This book provides the latest social indicators for more than 190 economies, including the most recent available estimates of fertility, mortality, illiteracy, access to health care, and shares of GDP for selected social expenditures. The indicators describe the characteristics of poverty and the effectiveness of efforts to reduce poverty. International comparisons are made easier by a summary table that takes a cross-country look at a selected array of indicators. The data are gathered from governments, specialized international agencies, and World Bank files.