Gdoc/Admin

Popular pages

Research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems.

13,212 charts across 119 topicsAll free: open access and open source

Our Mission

What do we need to know to make the world a better place?

To make progress against the pressing problems the world faces, we need to be informed by the best research and data.

Our World in Data makes this knowledge accessible and understandable, to empower those working to build a better world.

Read about our mission

We are a non-profit — all our work is free to use and open source. Consider supporting us if you find our work valuable.

Donate to support us
As seen on
Logos of the publications that have used our content. From left to right: Science, Nature, PNAS, BBC, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post

Daily Data Insights

Bite-sized insights on how the world is changing, published every weekday.

See all Daily Data Insights
Bar chart showing milk consumption per person across regions. Europe is the highest, followed by North America. Asia and Africa are both below the global average.

Europeans consume more milk and dairy products than in other regions

On average, Europeans consume more dairy products than people in other regions.

This chart shows the milk supply per person in each of the world’s regions. This is based on data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It’s based on supply — the amount of milk available for consumption. It includes consumer waste, so it is a bit higher than the amount that is consumed in the end.

As you can see, the per-capita supply for Europe is more than twice the global average. People across Africa and Asia consume far less.

These numbers include dairy products such as yogurt and cheese, based on how much milk is used to produce them.

Explore country-by-country data on milk supply →

Continue reading
A line graph titled "Regional trends in average years of schooling, 2000 to 2022" shows the average number of years that adults over 25 participated in formal education across different regions. The vertical axis represents years of schooling, ranging from 0 to 8 years, with marked lines at 2, 4, 6, and 8 years. The horizontal axis indicates the years from 2000 to 2022.

Four distinct data series are represented by colored lines: 

- **Latin America and the Caribbean** 
- **East Asia and the Pacific**  
- **South Asia** 
- **Sub-Saharan Africa** 

A note on the graph emphasizes that both Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have seen significant improvements in average years of schooling. The data source is indicated as the UNDP, Human Development Report (2024).
Four distinct data series are represented by colored lines: 

- **Latin America and the Caribbean** (purple line) shows a consistent increase, reaching just above 8 years in 2022.
- **East Asia and the Pacific** (blue line) gradually rises, reaching around 6 years in 2022. 
- **South Asia** (red line) increases to slightly below 6 years, reflecting slow growth over the years.
- **Sub-Saharan Africa** (green line) shows a gradual increase, with a 50% rise since 2000, adding about 2 years, reaching close to 4 years by 2022.

A note on the graph emphasizes that both Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have seen significant improvements in average years of schooling. The data source is indicated as the UNDP, Human Development Report (2024). The graph is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY).

People across developing regions are spending far more time in school than 20 years ago

In 2000, adults in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa had, on average, fewer than five years of schooling. That’s not enough to complete primary education.

But, as the chart shows, a lot of progress has been made since then. Adults older than 25 have gained more than two additional years of schooling, a 50% increase since 2000.

Latin American and East Asian countries have also made substantial gains, starting from a higher baseline.

This data is about adults. Children today can expect many more years of schooling, showing just how much progress has been made.

Of course, simply being in school isn’t enough; kids also need to learn while they’re there. And while more years of schooling generally mean more learning opportunities, it’s important to remember that millions of children in these regions still aren’t in school at all,

Discover more insights on access to basic education

Continue reading
Since 2010, primary school enrollment in Sub-Saharan Africa has stalled, and is still far behind the levels that North America and Western Europe achieved decades ago

Since 2010, progress in primary school enrollment in Sub-Saharan Africa has stalled

Over the past two centuries, the global share of children enrolled in primary school has increased dramatically. In 1820, fewer than 1 in 20 children were enrolled in primary school. Today, the figure is nearly 9 out of 10.

Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, made remarkable progress for several decades, with enrollment rising from 57% in 1985 to 77% by 2010. Yet, as the chart shows, progress has stalled in the past decade, plateauing just under 80%.

In North America and Western Europe, near-universal primary school enrollment was achieved by the mid-1900s, with rates consistently above 95% since 1985.

Explore how far the world has come in expanding access to basic education and how much further we have to go

Continue reading
Cancer death rates rise sharply with age. So, as the population grows and ages, we would expect the rate of cancer deaths to rise.
If we look at how death rates have changed for people of the same ages, the picture looks different.
National data from the United States, which comes from the WHO Mortality Database, is shown in the chart.
You can see that the “crude death rate”, which doesn’t adjust for aging, shows a rise and modest decline in cancer death rates since 1950.
But the “age-standardized death rate” shows a significant decline since its peak in 1990; it has fallen by one-third. This means that, within the same age groups, people in 2021 had a cancer death rate one-third lower than those in 1990. In other words, at the same ages, people are one-third less likely to die from cancer.
This decline results from several factors: better screening and earlier diagnosis, medical advances in cancer treatments, and public health efforts to reduce risk factors, like smoking and exposure to carcinogens.

Americans are now one-third less likely to die from cancer at the same ages as Americans in 1990

How has the risk of dying from cancer changed in the United States?

To understand this, we can look at national cancer death rates in the United States.

The gray line shows the crude rate, which is the rate of deaths from cancer per 100,000 people. It has risen between 1950 and 1990 and has fallen slightly since then.

However, cancer death rates rise sharply with age, and the age of the US population has increased since 1950, so we would expect cancer death rates to rise for that reason alone.

What if we adjust for the increased age of the US population?

The red line, the age-standardized rate, shows this. It shows the cancer death rate if the age structure of the US population was held constant throughout.

This shows a slight rise until 1990 and then a significant decline; rates have fallen by one-third.

This means Americans are now one-third less likely to die from cancer at the same ages as Americans in 1990.

This comes from several factors: better screening and earlier diagnosis, medical advances in cancer treatments, and public health efforts to reduce risk factors like smoking and exposure to carcinogens.

Explore this trend in other countries

Continue reading
Chart showing the average number of cows, pigs, and chickens slaughtered for meat worldwide per second in 2022. It's 10 cows, 47 pigs, and 2400 chickens per second.

Every second, 10 cows, 47 pigs, and 2,400 chickens are slaughtered for meat

Around the world, 10 cows, 47 pigs, and 2,400 chickens get killed for meat every second.

Recent estimates suggest that 99% of livestock in the United States is factory-farmed. Globally, the majority of animals are raised on factory farms.

For many of these animals, life is short and painful.

Newborn calves are typically taken from their mothers shortly after birth, causing distress for both. Castrating and cutting off piglets' tails without anesthesia is common practice. Chickens grow so quickly that after six weeks, many struggle to stand for long and spend most of their time lying down. These animals require high doses of antibiotics to survive in poor living conditions.

There are ways to make life less harsh for farm animals. Reducing meat consumption can lessen the demand for factory farming and its associated harms. Moreover, slowing chicken growth rates or giving hens better living spaces can help reduce their suffering.

These figures are based on estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Explore many more charts in our Animal Welfare Explorer

Continue reading
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. In several countries, it is the most common cause of death.
But which cancers cause the most deaths?
This map shows the data for men. It presents the most common type of cancer death, based on the cause listed on death certificates, compiled by the WHO Mortality Database. Many countries are not shown as they lack sufficient death registration.
Lung cancer is the most common in many countries. In several others, especially in South America, prostate cancer leads.
In Iran, stomach cancer, and in Mongolia and Egypt, liver cancer, are the most common. 
Many of these cancers are preventable. Stomach cancer, for example, has declined almost ten-fold in the last seventy years in the United States thanks to improvements in food safety, hygiene, and antibiotics. Meanwhile, lung cancer death rates have halved since their peak with the fall of smoking.

Which type of cancer kills the most men in each country?

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. In several countries, it is the most common cause of death.

But which cancer types cause the most deaths?

The map presents the most common type of cancer death among men. This is based on the cause listed on death certificates, compiled by the WHO Mortality Database. Unfortunately, many countries are not shown as they lack sufficient death registration.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of male cancer deaths in many countries, primarily driven by smoking.

In parts of Latin America, prostate cancer leads. Although it has high survival rates in richer countries, it is common and can reach late stages before diagnosis, which limits treatment options.

Stomach cancer — shown in purple on the map — is the leading cause in several Central Asian countries. It is primarily caused by H. pylori infections. In wealthier countries, infections have declined thanks to better food safety, hygiene, and antibiotics.

Liver cancer, leading in Mongolia, Thailand, and Egypt, is often the result of inflammation caused by long-term alcohol consumption or hepatitis virus infection.

Learn more about the rates of different cancers and how they have changed over time

Continue reading
Nearly half of teenagers globally cannot read with comprehension

Nearly half of teenagers globally cannot read with comprehension

The chart shows the share of children at the end of lower-secondary school age — aged 12 to 15 — who meet the minimum proficiency set by UNESCO in reading comprehension. This means they can connect the main ideas across various texts, understand the author’s intentions, and draw reasoned conclusions.

Only around half of children of this age can read this well. In countries like Ireland and South Korea, more than 8 in 10 children reach this level. But in poorer countries like Senegal, Zambia, and Cambodia, fewer than 1 in 20 do.

These numbers include all children of middle school age, not just those who attend school.

Explore the most recent education data from UNESCO, now available in our updated charts →

Continue reading

Get Daily Data Insights delivered to your inbox

Receive an email from us when we publish a Daily Data Insight (every weekday).

By subscribing you are agreeing to the terms of our privacy policy.

Explore our data

Featured data from our collection of 13,212 interactive charts.

See all our data

What share of children die before their fifth birthday?

What could be more tragic than the death of a young child? Child mortality, the death of children under the age of five, is still extremely common in our world today.

The historical data makes clear that it doesn’t have to be this way: it is possible for societies to protect their children and reduce child mortality to very low rates. For child mortality to reach low levels, many things have to go right at the same time: good healthcare, good nutrition, clean water and sanitation, maternal health, and high living standards. We can, therefore, think of child mortality as a proxy indicator of a country’s living conditions.

The chart shows our long-run data on child mortality, which allows you to see how child mortality has changed in countries around the world.

Explore and learn more about this data
Explore and learn more about this data

Share of population living in extreme povertyWorld Bank

Life expectancy at birthLong-run estimates collated from multiple sources by Our World in Data

Per capita CO₂ emissionsLong-run estimates from the Global Carbon Budget

GDP per capitaLong-run estimates from the Maddison Project Database

Share of people that are undernourishedFAO

Literacy rateLong-run estimates collated from multiple sources by Our World in Data

Share of the population with access to electricityWorld Bank

Data explorers

See all our Data Explorers

Interactive visualization tools to explore a wide range of related indicators.

Subscribe to our newsletters

Receive our latest work by email.
By subscribing you are agreeing to the terms of our privacy policy.

All our topics

All our data, research, and writing — topic by topic.

Population and Demographic Change

Health

Energy and Environment

Food and Agriculture

Poverty and Economic Development

Education and Knowledge

Innovation and Technological Change

Living Conditions, Community, and Wellbeing

Human Rights and Democracy

Violence and War