World economy and energy production assessed and documented.

After the weak start to the 1990s, the world economy had moved towards a "cruising speed" of 3 per cent growth a year, beginning in 1994, Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported on 18 December 1997. World output had grown more than 3 per cent in 1997, and a further year of 3 per cent growth was forecast for 1998.

The financial turmoil from the emerging market economies of Asia was expected to result in an inflection in world economic growth, with the slowdown in the more seriously affected countries and its impact on their major trading partners being partially offset by strengthened momentum elsewhere, the Secretary-General stated. Nevertheless, the unknown duration and ramifications of the huge swing in financial market sentiments in 1997 made the overall economic outlook "particularly cloudy at the time", he said.

Among the developed economies, the major features of 1997 were the relative weakness of the Japanese and strength of the United States economies. The efforts of the European Union countries to meet the macroeconomic criteria for entry into the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), in particular regarding budget deficits, had been a constraint on recovery and an added burden on unemployment. Moreover, the uncertainty surrounding the start of EMU - and the associated exchange rates, interest rates and macroeconomic policies - had caused some hesitation with regard to investment. As 1997 ended, however, the fact that it seemed more certain EMU would start on time and with a large number of participating countries reduced these uncertainties.

In the developing world, aggregate growth of gross domestic product of almost 6 per cent in 1997 depended less than previously on the dynamism of Eastern and Southern Asia. While the regional growth rates of Latin America and the Caribbean and Western Asia each exceeded 5 per cent, that of Africa slipped to only 3 per cent. Growth was forecast to pick up in Africa in 1998, albeit with a rate of only 4 per cent. Slower growth was foreseen in each of the other major regions, yielding an overall average growth rate of 5 per cent.

In the transition economies, 1997 might have marked a "watershed year", the Secretary-General said. At last, those economies as a group had begun to grow. While growth prospects in many of them were still fragile - the Russian Federation being an important case in point - they were generally positive. Certainly, had there not been widespread evidence of economic growth that late in the decade, confidence in the transition path itself would have been shaken.

Still, there had been a number of negative developments in the world economy, the report went on. The sharp economic slowdown in several developing Asian economies as a result of their financial crises was one major concern. Another was the fact of how hard it had been for Japan to overcome its own financial-sector difficulties and begin a sustained economic expansion. Also, unemployment was a particularly salient issue in much of Western Europe, especially when set against strong employment gains in some developed economies.

The thirty-ninth issue of the United Nations Energy Statistics Yearbook has been issued, prepared by the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Global production of commercial energy increased approximately 8 per cent from 1990, reaching 8.7 billion metric tons of oil equivalent in 1995; among the primary energy sources, natural gas showed a marked increase of 17 per cent between 1990 and 1995; in 1995, the United States (21 per cent), the Russian Federation (12 per cent) and China (10 per cent) continued to lead individual countries in global energy production; of the worldwide generation of 13,097 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 1995, 63 per cent was produced from fossil fuels, 19 per cent from hydropower and 17 per cent from nuclear power; and the United States, France and Japan together accounted for almost 60 per cent of global nuclear energy production in 1995.

From 1990 to 1995, worldwide primary energy demand increased approximately 9 per cent, reaching over 8 billion metric tons of oil; world consumption of crude petroleum exceeded production by more than 40 million tons in 1995; among primary energy sources, consumption of natural gas showed the largest increase of 18 per cent between 1990 and 1995; and China's consumption of electricity increased more than 60 per cent from 1990, reaching 1,007 billion kilowatt hours in 1995.

In trade, Asia remained the world's largest regional exporter of crude petroleum in 1995, with 48 per cent of total global exports or 789 million metric tons, while Saudi Arabia was the leading country with 351 million metric tons; among regions, Europe was the largest importer of crude petroleum in 1995 with a 35 per cent share of worldwide imports; and in 1995, Australia was the leading exporter of coal with 136 million metric tons or 29 per cent of worldwide exports, while Japan was the leading importer, with 122 million metric tons or 25 per cent of world imports.