ASEANâs five core countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand -- have been growing as fast as any other regional grouping in the world over the past five years. Impressive as this pack has been, two of its members have stood out as particularly promising. Giant Indonesia soared during the last half decade, boasting high growth, low inflation, an extremely low debt-to-GDP ratio, strong foreign exchange reserves, and a top-performing stock market. But it is the Philippines, the regionâs other archipelago, that is now providing the biggest upside surprise.
Those statistics say there are now 1,864 wild giant pandas living in central Chinaâs Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu Provinces. Thatâs up from 1,596 estimated animals in a 2003 report, the last time giant pandas were surveyed. However, some in the conservation community suggest that the new numbers may be due in part to wider surveying and an improvement in surveying techniques, though few doubt the upward trajectory reported by the Chinese.
It is difficult to come to the exact number of births every day since not all births are registered or recorded. The UNICEF estimates that an average of 353,000 babies are born each day around the world. Our current world population is approximately 7.2 billion and growing. It passed the 7 billion mark in 2011. It is expected to reach between 8 to 10 billion by 2050.