United Nations statistical yearbook, 1999

The Statistical Yearbook provides systematic information on a wide range of social and economic issues that are of concern in the United Nations system and among the governments and peoples of the world. A particular value of the Yearbook, but also its greatest challenge, is that these issues are extensively interrelated. Meaningful social and economic analysis of these issues requires systematization and coordination of the data across many fields. These issues include: general economic growth and related economic conditions; economic situation in developing countries and progress towards the objectives adopted for the United Nations development decades; population and urbanization, and their growth and impact; employment, inflation and wages; production of energy and development of new energy sources; expansion of trade; financial situation and external payments and receipts; education, training and eradication of illiteracy; improvement in general living conditions; pollution and protection of environment and assistance provided to developing countries for social and economic development purposes.