PREFACE
I. International Statistical
Yearbook 2009 is an annual comprehensive reference publication on
international economic and social statistics. It contains data from as much as
200 countries, regions and territories over the world. More detailed
information on the economic and social development of over 40 countries and the
key indicators of the world famous companies is also included in the Yearbook.
II. The Yearbook contains the
following 18 chapters: China in the World; Geography ,Climate, Natural
Resources and Environment; National Accounts; Population; Employment and Earnings;
Investment Environment; Energy; Government Finance and Banking; Price Indices;
Household Income and Expenditure and Poverty; Agriculture; Industry and
Construction; Transportation and Communication; External Trade; Balance of
Payments and External Debts; Tourism; Education, Science and Technology,
Culture, Health and Military; Main Indicators of the 500 Largest Companies in
the World.
III. Data for most of the foreign
countries/territories have been adjusted by international organizations such as
the United Nations, and the scope and coverage is therefore comparable.
IV. The latest data for many
countries are preliminary or estimated statistics.
V. All data of
VI. The data all from the
databases, CD-ROMs, yearbooks and monthly publications of international
organizations. The sources of data are given at the top of each table in the
Yearbook.
VII. Some aggregations or
rates/ratios may not add up to the sum of the series because of rounding.
VIII. Unless otherwise indicated,
the countries included in the Yearbook are the countries under their present
names with the present territories, although the names or the boundaries may
have changed during the period covered by the Yearbook.
IX. The meanings of the symbols
used in the Yearbook are as following,
"…" indicates that the
figure is not large enough to be measured with the smallest unit in the table;
"(blank)"
indicates that data are not available;
"#" indicates the major
items of the total;
"|" indicates that the
data to the left are not comparable with those to the right because of the
adjustment of scope and coverage.
X. Some international
organizations and the members included are as following,
Group 7,
includes the
Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), has 30
members, i.e., Australia (1971), Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, Germany,
France, Finland (1969), Canada, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, United States,
Portugal, Japan (1964), Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, Spain, Greece,
Italy, New Zealand (1973), Turkey, United Kingdom, Mexico (Mar. 24, 1994),
Czech Republic (Nov. 28, 1995), Hungary (Mar. 29, 1996), Poland (Jul. 11,
1996), Korea (Oct. 11, 1996) and Slovakia (Sep. 2000).
European Union (EU), it expanded to 27 members, i.e., France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg (1951), Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom
(1973), Greece (1981), Spain, Portugal (1986), Austria, Finland, Sweden (1995),
Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Bulgaria(2007), Romania(2007).
European Monetary Union (Euro
Area) , member countries are Germany, Belgium, Austria,
the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Ireland, Finland
,Greece ,Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovak, has 16 members. Since January 1,
2002, the euro has formally substitute the former
local currencies of the member countries.
Association of South East Asian
Countries (ASEAN), it has 10 members, i.e., the
Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam
(1984), Viet Nam (1995), Myanmar (1997), Lao People's Democratic Republic
(1997) and Cambodia (1999).
North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA),
was founded on January 1, 1994, with members unchanged
hitherto, i.e.,
XI. Countries (territory) groups
and their meanings are as following,
Countries by Income Group According to the criteria by the World Bank, countries and
territories (referred to as economies) are classified into high income (higher
than $11456), higher middle income (between $3706 and $11455), lower middle
income (between $936 and $3705) and low income ($935 and below) groups by their
per capita GNI in the year 2007.
Developed and Developing
Countries According to the classification
standard of the United Nations, developed countries include Canada, the United
States, the member countries of the former European Union, Australia, New
Zealand, Japan, Israel and South Africa The others are developing countries.
Industrial and Developing
Countries According to the classification
standard of International Monetary Funds, industrial countries include Canada,
the United States, the member countries of the former European Union,
Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The others are developing countries.
XII. The abbreviations used in
this book and their meanings are as following,
Sq.km=square kilometer,
ha = hectare,
kwh = kilowatt-hour,
g = gram,
kg = kilogram,
TJ = terojoule
(1012 joule),
TCE = ton of standard coal
equivalent,
TOE = ton of standard oil
equivalent,
UNSD = Statistics Division of the
United Nations,
IMF = International Monetary
Funds,
FAO = Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations,
UNCTAD = United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development,
UNDP = United Nations Development
Program,
ILO = International Labor
Organization,
WHO = World Health Organization.