50 facts from the report - About 139 million babies were born in
1995, a 12% increase over the last 15 years. However, mainly due
to increasing contraceptive use, women are having fewer babies -
an average of 3 today compared to 3.2 in 1990 and 3.7 in 1980. -
Of all the births in 1995, almost 16 million were in the
developed world, almost 25 million in the least developed
countries, and over 98 million in other developing countries. -
Between 1990-1995, about 15 million babies were born each year
to teenagers or women over 35. Birth rates among young women
aged 15-19 are twice as high in the developing world as in
developed countries. - Average life expectancy at birth globally
in 1995 was more than 65 years, an increase of about 3 years
since 1985. It was over 75 years in developed countries, 64
years in developing countries, and 52 years in least developed
countries. - The world's lowest life expectancy at birth, just
40 years, is in Sierra Leone - barely half of the world's
highest, in Japan, where it is 7