Interesting Facts

In a survey that examines the good each country does for humanity as well as what it takes away, Britain has ranked 4th. (The Good Country Index placed Sweden first, Denmark second, and the Netherlands third, but the UK came above France and Germany because Britain does more “good” and less harm than more than 150 countries around the world. Britain came top for its global contribution to science and technology, thanks to the high number of journal exports, Nobel prizes and international publications it has produced,  was ranked 2nd on its global contribution to health and wellbeing, but it scored poorly on international security and peace, coming 64th out of 163 countries. Simon Anholt, who created the Good Country Index, said that while countries must serve the interests of their people it should not be at the expense of other populations.  I think we could apply that to ourselves as individuals too.)

According to a report by the WHO (World Health Organisation) 74% of men and 64% of women in the UK will be overweight by 2030. ( That's almost three-quarters of men and two-thirds of women in the UK are on their way to being overweight within 15 years. Medically speaking, b eing “overweight” is defined as having a BMI ( Body Mass Index ) of between 25 and 29.9.  Being  “obese” is defined by a BMI of 30 and above. Worryingly  other European countries are facing growing obesity problems including Greece, Spain, Austria, the Czech Republic and even Sweden.   The only European country to escape is the Netherlands.  Must be all those bikes.) Source

According to consumer research company Euromonitor, the Dutch drink the most coffee per person in the world. (The Netherlands’ are the only country that averages more than 2 cups of coffee per day, with a  per-capita consumption of 2.4 cups a day, which is almost the same as those of the US, UK, Spain, and France combined. The US, who brag that they run on coffee, doesn’t even crack the top 15.)

According to a poll carried out in Europe by the website GrowingUpMilkInfo.com,   British children are the fussiest eaters in Europe. (Seemingly 26% of British children reject their meals every day, and 69% of children under five in the UK sometimes refuse to eat what they are given. The league table for fussy eaters is:- 1st - United Kingdom - 69% 2nd - Netherlands - 63% 3rd - Germany - 58%  and  Sweden - 58% 4th - France - 54% 5th - Spain - 40% Italy doesn't appear, probably because 37% of mothers in Italy said they are 'not bothered' about what their children eat.) Source

King Willem-Alexander has become the first Dutch male monarch in more than a century after his mother Beatrix abdicated today. He is the first Dutch king since Willem III died in 1890.

According to Unicef's leage table of children's well-being in the industrialised world, the Netherlands is the best place to grow up. (Unicef consider five dimensions of children’s lives – material well-being, health and safety, education, behaviours and risks, housing and environment and subjective well-being and the results might surprise you:- 1 Netherlands 2 Norway 3 Iceland 4 Finland 5 Sweden 6 Germany 7 Luxembourg 8 Switzerland 9 Belgium 10 Ireland 11 Denmark 12 Slovenia 13 France 14 Czech Republic 15 Portugal 16 United Kingdom 17 Canada 18 Austria 19 Spain 20 Hungary 21 Poland 22 Italy 23 Estonia 23 Slovakia 25 Greece 26 United States 27 Lithuania 28 Latvia 29 Romania You can download the full report here )

There are 12 net contributors and 15 net recipients within the EU. (Net contributors receive less money from EU funds than they pay into the joint coffers.  Net recipients receive more grants and benefits than they pay.  The largest net contributors include Germany (at 9 billion euros), France (6.4 billion), Italy (5.9 billion), Great Britain (5.6 billion) and the Netherlands (2.2 billion).  The leading net recipients are Poland (11 billion), Greece (4.6 billion), Hungary (4.4 billion), Spain (2.9 billion), and Portugal (2.9 billion).  Calculating that for each individual EU citizen, however, the picture looks different: Danes pay the most into EU coffers at 150 euros each, while Hungary receives the biggest payout - 442 euros per capita in aid money from Brussels.)