And if you look forward over the coming decades, the rate of increase could double again.

"In some patients, the rate at which their heart can pump blood has almost doubled."

In women the rates have more than doubled over the same period, rising from 3.2 to 7.5 per 100,000.

In some cities, rates for basic service have more than doubled.

By 1990, that rate had doubled to more than 140 per 100,000.

Meanwhile, the rate of increase in the money supply has virtually doubled.

Between 1974 and 1995, the rate of loss more than doubled, to 26 acres a year.

From 1994 to 1999, the rate nearly doubled again, with an average of 44 acres lost each year.

Indeed, at every level of experience, the going rate for back-office staff workers has doubled in just over a year, according to industry officials.

During high season, the rates per person for all hotels can double.