Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993                   TAG: 9312310105
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A16   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

BANK RATES SWISS FIRST IN INCOME

In the United States, the average 1992 income was the world's eighth-highest at $23,120, the bank said. U.S. life expectancy, at 76, lags behind 18 other countries.

A Japanese or Hong Kong baby can expect to live until 79, according to the "World Bank Atlas 1994," published Thursday. Other countries with life expectancies higher than the United States include Australia, Canada, Iceland and several in Europe.

In 1997, the British colony of Hong Kong is due to become part of China, where life expectancy is 71 years. The average income in Hong Kong in 1992 was $15,380, compared with $380 in China.

Between Switzerland and the United States in income are: Luxembourg with $35,260, Japan with $28,220, Sweden with $26,780, Denmark with $25,930, Norway with $25,800 and Iceland with $23,670.

The bank calculates these averages by dividing a country's population into the value of its total production. That gives production per citizen, including babies and pensioners, which the bank considers roughly equal to income per citizen.

The United Nations criticizes this method as ignoring what the income can actually buy in the country where it is earned. By the U.N. system of "purchasing power parities," the United States comes in first with an average income of $21,449 and Switzerland second, with the equivalent of $20,874.

The least attractive prospects are in Africa, the World Bank reports. A baby born in Guinea-Bissau is expected to live only to age 39. The average resident of Mozambique earned $60 in 1992.