The book was prepared by a team of IMEMO researchers. For the first time in Russian economic literature, a comprehensive analysis of the world economic development during the past century was made. The book consists of four sections: Section 1 deals with the evolution of the world economic mechanism as a whole and with major problems related to it; Section 2 comprises the chapters outlining the development of the world economic potential; Section 3 is devoted to socioeconomic situations in individual countries; Section 4 contains statistical data on the dynamics and structure of the GDP as a whole and of each of its components, as well as other important indicators of the world socioeconomic development.