By The Numbers: Population, Consumption, and Reproductive Health

Aug 17, 2011, 2:04pm

Vicky Markham

What are the facts on population, consumption, and reproductive health? Here they are "by the numbers," including who is using what in terms of energy and climate change; environment; reproductive health, and the status of girls and women.

This fall, world population will reach 7 billion people at a time of accelerated environmental disruption. This article part of a series commissioned by Rewire and with Laurie Mazur as guest editor, to examine the causes and consequences of population and environmental change from various perspectives and the policies and actions needed to both avoid and mitigate the inevitable impacts of these changes.

Here, Victoria Markham gives us just the facts on consumption, population, and reproductive health. All of the articles in this series can be found here.

Global Consumption and Population at a Glance

Percent of planet’s ecosystems degraded by human activity in the past fifty years	60
Percent of per capita consumption by the richest 20 percent of the world’s population	86
Percent of per capita consumption by the poorest 20 percent	less than 2
U.S. rank in population growth and numbers among industrialized nations	1
Global rank of the US ecological footprint (1 = worst/heaviest impact)	1

Population, Energy and Climate Change

U.S. share of global population	4.5
U.S. share of total global CO2 emissions	25
Amount of CO2 emissions each American generates compared to world average	5 times
Expected date U.S. reaches 1 billion high-consuming Americans	2100
Global oil consumption, U.S. Rank	1
Expected percentage increase in amount of current oil consumption by 2025	43
Household energy use worldwide, U.S. Rank	1
Developing nations’ share of global population	83
Developing nations’ CO2 emissions per capita (metric tons)	2.3
US CO2 emissions per capita (metric tons)	19.87
US energy consumption per capita (kilograms oil equivalent)	7,921
Developing nations’ energy consumption per capita	828
Total motor vehicles per 1,000 population, U.S.	675
Total motor vehicles per 1,000 population, less developed nations	25.5
Percent of species projected to become extinct from climate change by 2050	15-37

Population and Environment

U.S. annual water withdrawals per capita (cubic meters)	1,682
Developing nations’ annual water withdrawals	545
Percent of population with improved sanitation, U.S.	100
Percent of population with improved sanitation, least developed nations	49
U.S. annual per capita paper consumption (pounds)	678
Developing nations annual per capita paper consumption	44

Population, Reproductive Health, Status of Girls and Women

Average births per minute U.S.	6
Average births per minute in developing nations	240
Percent of population under 25 in U.S.	20
Percent of population under 25 in Sub-Saharan Africa	43
Percent of women among the 1.3 billion people globally who live in absolute poverty	70
Percent women contribute to the world’s working hours	66
Percent of world’s income earned by women	10
Percent of the world’s property owned by women	less than 1
Percent of girls among the 77 million children globally not attending primary school	60

Poverty and Affluence

U.S. gross income per capita	$46,970
Less developed nations’ gross income per capita	$4,880
Percent living on less than $2 a day, U.S.	0
Percent living on less than $2 a day, less developed nations	51

Reproductive Health and Family Planning

Total fertility rate (number of children born per woman of childbearing age), U.S.	2.1
Total fertility rate, less developed nations	4.5
Percent of married women using contraception, U.S.	73
Percent of married women using contraception, Sub-Saharan Africa	22
Number of women globally who want to avoid pregnancy but are not using an effective method of contraception	215 million
Expected percent increase in demand for contraception globally by 2050	40
Amount needed for family planning globally per year	$6.7 billion
Amount of US military budget per day	$1.9 billion
Annual cost to achieve universal access to reproductive health	$70 billion
Average share of that amount contributed by donor governments	less than 50
Percent of global health funding earmarked for reproductive health, 1994	30
Percent earmarked for reproductive health, 2008	12
U.S. funding for family planning and reproductive health programs, 2010	$648 million
U.S. funding for family planning and reproductive health programs, 2011	$615 million
U.S. funding for United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 2010	$40 million
U.S. funding for UNFPA, 2011	$25 million
U.S. funding for Title X (family planning for low-income/uninsured people), 2010	$317 million
U.S. funding for Title X 2011	$299 million