Hard Numbers: China, the world's largest unicorn paddock

90: Of the world's fastest-shrinking populations, 90 percent are in East and Southeast Europe, according to a recent UN study. Poor job prospects and inadequate social services are causing young people to seek opportunities abroad, threatening economic growth in the region, the report warns.

924,000: Botswana heads to the polls today in an election that is considered the first serious challenge to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in its fifty-year rule. Out of a population of 2.2 million, 924,000 people are registered to vote in local and national polls.

1 billion: China now has more start-ups valued at more than $1 billion than any other country in the world. With 206 start-ups, (known in in the parlance as "unicorns") it now surpasses the US by just three, upping the ante in the US-China trade spat.

17: The British government is extending existing EU free trade deals so that it doesn't lose tariff-free access to these markets in the event of a no-deal Brexit. It has signed 17 "continuity" deals, covering 47 countries or territories. But these cover only about 8 percent of total UK trade.