The table illustrates data provided by the United Nations on four indicators of living standards in Canada, Japan, Peru and Zaire in 1994. These categories include annual income per person, life expectancy at birth, daily calorie supply per person and adult literacy rate.
Overall, Japan and Canada outperformed Peru and Zaire in all categories. In addition, Canada ranked first in terms of daily calorie supply , whereas Japan had the highest annual income and life expectancy. By contrast, Zaire recorded the lowest figures for all indicators.
In terms of annual income, Canada ranked second at about 11,100$, while Japan had the largest figure at approximately 15,760$ per person. These figures for Canada and Japan were significantly higher than those for Peru and Zaire, which were 160$ in Peru and 130$ in Zaire. Life expectancy at birth was higher in Japan at around 78 years, while the figure for Canada was steadily lower, at 76 years . By contrast, lower life expectancy was in both Peru and Zaire, at 51 and 47 years.
The adult literacy rate was similar in both Canada and Japan at 99%, compared with 68% in Peru and 34% in Zaire. While Canada had the highest calorie supply , at about 3,326, Japan’s figure was 2,846. The figures for Peru and Zaire were dramatically lower, at 1927 and 1749 calories.