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Nation
Data Year
Life Expectancy (yrs)
The average age, in years, that a typical adult is expected to reach, given that the overall health of a country stays constant over their lifetime.
Gross Domestic Product
The gross domestic product reflects the annual value of all final goods and services produced within a particular nation.
Total Citizens
An estimate based on statistics from vital censuses, registration systems, and sample surveys pertaining to past and future trends.
Total Land (square km)
The sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.
Defense Spending (% of GDP)
Spending on military programs for the most recent year available as a percent of overall gross domestic product (GDP).
GDP per Citizen
The total GDP of a country in relation to the country's total number of citizens.
GDP Change Rate
GDP growth on an annual basis adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percent.
Rate of Inflation
The annual rate of decrease or increase of a price index.
Population Change (% Rate)
The average annual percent change in the population, resulting from a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths and the balance of migrants entering and leaving a country. The rate may be positive or negative.
Debt, Public (% of GDP)
The cumulative total of all government borrowings less repayments that are denominated in a country's home currency. Public debt should not be confused with external debt, which reflects the foreign currency liabilities of both the private and public sector and must be financed out of foreign exchange earnings.
Common Searches

How to use the CIA World Factbook

Summary
The World Factbook is a compilation of data on 267 nations, providing information on each country's most important issues in the fields of health, economy, education, military, transportation, and geography. It reflects recent data points on the totals and the rate of change in a number of measurements, including GDP, inflation, population, infant mortality, life expectancy, and more. Use Real Clear World's CIA World Factbook comparison to sort and filter these data points based on statistical specifications. Find which country has the highest GDP per capita, or which countries on Earth enjoy the greatest life expectancy. Wherever your interest lies, you can find data to examine with our comparison.

Users of the World Factbook
Because it is viewed as one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date sources of information worldwide, the World Factbook is used by news organizations, governments, corporations, professors, students, and anybody else who seeks reliable data to draw conclusions from.

Data Sources
Information contained in the Fact Book is aggregated from the following sources: US Transportation Command (Department of Defense), US Board on Geographic Names (Department of the Interior), Oil & Gas Journal, Office of Naval Intelligence (Department of Defense), Office of Insular Affairs (Department of the Interior), Naval Facilities Engineering Command (Department of Defense), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Department of Defense), Maritime Administration (Department of Transportation), Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior), Department of State, Department of Energy, Defense Intelligence Agency (Department of Defense), Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs, Central Intelligence Agency, Bureau of the Census (Department of Commerce), Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor), Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center (Department of Defense), Antarctic Information Program (National Science Foundation), and other private and public sources.

How to Find CIA World Factbook

Life Expectancy
The average age, in years, that a typical adult is expected to reach, given that the overall health of a country stays constant over their lifetime.
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, Swaziland has/had the worst life expectancy at 31.99 years in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Monaco has/had the best life expectancy at 89.78 years in 2010.
Labor Force
All the members of a country's population who are able to work. Generally this is a population's total number of 15 to 65 year old persons who are actively employed or seeking employment.
Inflation Rate
The annual rate of decrease or increase of a price index.
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, Zimbabwe has/had the greatest rate of inflation at 14930000000% in 2009.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Nauru has/had the smallest inflation rate at -3.6% in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2008
2008
GDP per Capita
The total GDP of a country in relation to the country's total number of citizens. The amount is computed by dividing the GDP by population as of July 1 that year. This gives GDP context, for a small nation with a moderate GDP as compared to others, may actually have a very healthy GDP per capita. This is usually indicative of a higher quality of life. On the other hand, a large, populous state may appear to have a lot of purchasing power parity, but when divided by the total population, there is actually much less per person.
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, Qatar has/had the greatest GDP per capita at $179,000 per person in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2010
2010.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Zimbabwe has/had the worst GDP per citizen at $200 in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.
GDP
The gross domestic product reflects the annual value of all final goods and services produced within a particular nation. GDP is what most economists prefer when examining per-capita welfare and when comparing living conditions or use of resources. The measure is difficult to compute, as a US dollar value has to be assigned, regardless of whether the goods and services have a direct equivalent in the United States. Also, many countries don't formally participate in the World Bank's Purchasing Power Parity project that calculates these measures, so the resulting GDP estimates for these countries may lack precision.
Education Expenditures (% of GDP)
The public expenditure on education as a percent of GDP
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, Kiribati spends/spent the highest amount on education at 17.8% of GDP in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Cook Islands spends/spent the lowest amount on education at 0.2% of GDP in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.
Deaths/1000 Persons
The average annual number of deaths during a year per 1,000 population at midyear; also known as crude death rate.
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, Swaziland has/had the worst mortality rate at 30.83 deaths per 1000 persons in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.

According to the CIA World Factbook, United Arab Emirates has/had the lowest mortality rate at 2.06 deaths/1000 persons in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2010
2010.
External Debt
Total debt, private and public, owed to nonresidents. These debts are repayable in internationally accepted currencies, goods, or services. The figure is calculated on an exchange rate basis, not in terms of purchasing power parity.
Fertility Rate (Children/Woman)
A figure for the average number of children that would be born per woman if all women lived to the end of their childbearing years and bore children according to a given fertility rate at each age. The total fertility rate (TFR) is a more direct measure of the level of fertility than the crude birth rate, since it refers to births per woman. This indicator shows the potential for population change in the country. A rate of two children per woman is considered the replacement rat
Fact: According to the CIA World Factbook, Niger has/had the greatest fertility rate at 7.75 children/woman in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.
Foreign Exchange and Gold Reserves
The dollar value for the stock of all financial assets that are available to the central monetary authority for use in meeting a country's balance of payments needs as of the end-date of the period specified. This category includes not only foreign currency and gold, but also a country's holdings of Special Drawing Rights in the International Monetary Fund, and its reserve position in the Fund.
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, China has/had the greatest foreign exchange and reserves of gold at $2,622,000,000,000 in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2010
2010.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Eritrea has/had the smallest foreign exchange and reserves of gold at $24,000,000 in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.
Births/1000 Persons
The average annual number of births during a year per 1,000 persons in the population at midyear; also known as crude birth rate
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, Niger has/had the highest rate of births at 51.08 births per 1000 persons in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2010
2010.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Hong Kong has/had the lowest rate of births 0.74 births per 1000 persons in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.
Population
An estimate based on statistics from vital censuses, registration systems, and sample surveys pertaining to past and future trends. Note: Starting with the 1993 Factbook, demographic estimates for some countries (mostly African) have explicitly taken into account the effects of the growing impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These countries are currently: The Bahamas, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, China has/had the greatest population with 1,338,612,968 people in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Pitcairn Islands has/had the least number of citizens, with 48 people in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.
Total Area (sq km)
The sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. This entry includes three sub fields.
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, the country with the most land is Russia which has an area of 17,098,242 square kilometers.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Monaco is/was the country with the least land, with a total area of 2 square kilometers in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.
Military Expenditures (% of GDP)
Spending on military programs for the most recent year available as a percent of overall gross domestic product (GDP).
Facts:According to the CIA World Factbook, Oman spends/spent the largest amount on military at 11.4% of GDP in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2008
2008.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Iceland spends/spent the smallest amount on military at 0% of GDP in
Compare CIA World Factbook in 2009
2009.
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