Hobson's Choice

Number of children adopted in Britain in 1998 from other countries:

258

Number of children adopted in USA in 1998 from other countries: 10,000

Estimated number of 100-year-olds in Britain in 2036, most of whom will be women:

39,000

Number of children born in England and Wales in 1997 by in-vitro fertilisation, the equivalent of more than one in 100 births:

7,222

Number of two-year-olds in Britain unrelated to either one or both their parents through donor egg or sperm conception:

2,000

Chances that a laptop sold in the USA last year was stolen after purchase:

1 in 14

Number of British Intelligence computer systems in Northern Ireland in 1994, virtually none of which was compatible:

37

Minimum number of years behind schedule the pounds 475m air traffic control centre at Swanwick will be when completed, at a cost three times over budget:

6

Number of jobs being lost per week in the British apparel manufacturing industry, prices of clothing in the UK being 20 per cent higher than in the US:

2,000

Number of hours, seven days a week, that Brody International in London, Europe's only sequin manufacturer, is working to prepare for the Millennium:

20

Amount of tonnes of waste illegally dumped in England and Wales each year:

60,000

Percentage of plastic bottles recycled in Britain each year:

3

Number of Christmas trees recycled by Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council this year:

8,103

Amount that Croydon council will earn annually from parking when the new charges take effect on August 1:

pounds 12.2m

Number of Teletubbies products sold by BBC Worldwide, ranging from stationery to ice-cream:

1,200

SOURCES: PROSPECT, OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS, FOCUS, THE GUARDIAN, WORLD CLOTHING MANUFACTURER, THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, WASTES MANAGEMENT, RECOUP, CROYDON POST, WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Compiled by Will Hobson