Data Insights
Bite-sized insights on how the world is changing, published every few days.
March 06, 2025
The United States spends a lot more on healthcare per person than other G7 nations
The chart shows health expenditure per person for G7 countries; the data is adjusted for differences in living costs between countries.
The US spends much more on healthcare per person than any other G7 nation: $12,000 in 2021. This is more than 50% higher than Germany, the next-highest spender.
Japan and Italy spend just $4,700 and $4,400 per person at the lowest end — slightly over one-third of US spending.
Despite spending much more on healthcare, the United States has the lowest life expectancy in the G7. This is due to a combination of higher death rates from smoking, obesity, homicides, opioid overdoses, road accidents, and infant mortality.
March 05, 2025
More than 80% of countries vote, but less than 40% do so freely and fairly
People might associate democracy with having the right to vote. But meaningful democracy is much more than that.
In 2022, nearly every country granted its citizens the right to vote. 85% of them had an elected parliament and government. In 82%, elections were multi-party, meaning that people had more than one option on the ballot. You can see this in the chart.
But, fewer than two-thirds of these elections were genuinely competitive. In others, voters were systematically pressured or intimidated, the timing of elections was violated, or election fraud influenced the results.
Even more concerning, in only 39% of countries were people able to express their political opinions and associate freely.
As a result, just over one-third of countries recently held elections that met all of these democratic criteria and can be considered truly free and fair.
Find out which countries have all democratic criteria and which don't →
March 04, 2025
What share of births involve assisted reproductive technologies like IVF?
In 1978, Louise Brown became the first baby born through in vitro fertilization (IVF). In this technique, eggs are fertilized with sperm in a lab before the resulting embryos are transferred to the uterus.
Assisted reproductive technologies have advanced further and now become widely available.
These innovations have helped many people who might otherwise struggle to conceive — supporting individuals and couples facing infertility, allowing older parents to preserve fertility, and enabling same-sex couples to have children.
The chart shows the share of births in 2019 that involved assisted reproductive technologies across various European countries. This can include cross-border treatment.
Spain had the highest share, with nearly 9% of births resulting from assisted reproductive technology, followed by Greece, Denmark, and Czechia. In contrast, countries like Ireland, Lithuania, Serbia, and Turkey had much lower rates, with less than 2% of all births.
Explore more data on fertility rates and reproductive technology →
March 03, 2025
Fewer marriages in England and Wales are ending in divorce within the first ten years
Since 2000, fewer couples in England and Wales have divorced within the first ten years of marriage, reversing the trend of the late 20th century.
The chart shows the percentage of marriages ending in divorce within a decade, based on the year of marriage. For those married in 1965, one in ten divorced within ten years.
By 1975, this had nearly doubled to 18% as legal reforms made separation easier and less stigmatized. Divorce rates peaked for couples married in 1995, with one in four divorcing by their tenth anniversary.
But, as you can see, this trend has started to reverse. Of the couples that married in 2012, only 17% had divorced by 2022. That’s well below the peak in the 1990s.
Explore our data on marriages and divorces in other countries →
February 28, 2025
Bangladesh has been urbanizing much faster than its neighbors
The biggest migration story of the past few centuries has not been from country to country but from rural areas to cities.
In 1960, one-third of the world’s population lived in urban areas. This share is now closing in on 60%. By contrast, less than 4% of the global population are international migrants.
But some countries are urbanizing much more quickly than others. Bangladesh is one example of a country that has experienced much faster internal migration than its South Asian neighbors. You can see this on the chart.
In 1972, just 8% of people in Bangladesh lived in towns and cities. This share has more than quadrupled to 40%.
Explore more data on the global movement of populations from rural areas to cities →
February 27, 2025
Many Europeans say their nations are on the wrong track with housing
The Ipsos Housing Monitor 2025 surveyed people across 30 countries, asking: “In general, do you think that your country is on the right track or the wrong track when it comes to housing?”.
The chart shows results for European countries, where housing prices dipped after the 2008 global financial crisis, before starting to rise again around 2013, with particularly large increases since 2015.
The Netherlands and Spain stand out, with nearly 80% believing their country is on the wrong track.
People in Poland and Sweden are less concerned than in other countries. But even in these nations, the majority feels like their country is on the wrong track.
Explore more data on optimism and pessimism about the future →
February 26, 2025
What share of women reach the end of their childbearing years without having children?
This chart focuses on the share of women who had no births by the end of their childbearing years. The horizontal axis shows the woman’s birth year.
Around 18% of those born in the 1910s in the United States had no children. For the following generations who grew up during the “baby boom”, the share with no children dropped to 5%. Since then, this figure has risen and fallen again.
In Sweden, the share of women without any children has remained relatively stable at around 12% for women born between the 1950s and 1970s.
The trend in Japan and Spain has been different: the share of women with no children has grown steeply over recent generations. In Spain, the figure nearly doubled in a decade: from 10% for women born in 1960 to almost 20% for those born in 1970. In Japan, it almost tripled in twenty years.
February 25, 2025
Solo living has become the most common arrangement for households in the United States
Households in the United States have changed significantly over the last 60 years. In 1960, 43% of households were couples with children, but this had dropped to 24% by 2015.
Once a minority, single individuals living alone are now the most common composition, making up 28% of households in 2015.
Several factors may explain this shift. Since 2000, most population growth has occurred among those over 60, who are more likely to live alone after widowhood or once children leave home. Declining birth rates have further reduced the share of households with children.
At the same time, rising incomes among women, in particular, have made independent living more accessible, likely contributing to the increase in single-person households alongside the trend of marrying later or not at all.
Explore how household types compare across different countries →
February 24, 2025
Women live longer than men in every country in the world
In every country in the world, women tend to live longer than men.
You can see this in the chart, which shows the average life expectancy of women on the vertical axis and the life expectancy of men on the horizontal axis, both for 2023. Each dot is one country.
As you can see, all countries lie above the middle line, which means that women's life expectancy was higher than men's.
There are various reasons why this gap in life expectancy exists, which my colleagues Saloni Dattani and Lucas Rodés-Guirao explain in their article. Typically, births are skewed in favor of males, with around 105 boys being born for every 100 girls. However, throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, mortality rates tend to be higher in males.
This data comes from the United Nations’ World Population Prospects.
February 21, 2025
Many African countries are heavily dependent on oil production
Oil production plays an important role in the economy of many African countries. The chart shows oil rents as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) for the nine African nations most reliant on it.
Libya ranks first, with oil rents equivalent to 56% of its GDP in 2021, followed by Congo at 34% and Angola at 28%. Despite being Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria’s oil rents are just 6.2% of its GDP.
Despite this, these countries’ oil production is relatively modest on a global scale. In 2021, their combined output was less than half of what the United States, the world’s top producer, extracted.
February 20, 2025
Internet use has grown rapidly but unevenly across Asia's largest countries
Since the turn of the millennium, Internet access has grown quickly but at different rates across Asia’s most populous nations.
Four countries, home to more than 40% of the world's population, tell this story in the chart: China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
Internet users in China rose from 2% in 2000 to 77% in 2023, while Indonesia’s users grew from 1% to 69%. The pace has been slower in South Asia, with India reaching 43% by 2020 and Pakistan 33% by 2022.
February 19, 2025
In some countries, more than one in three mothers have lost a child younger than five
There are few experiences, if any, that are more painful for a parent than losing a child.
In the past, child deaths were much more common than they are today. But even when these deaths were not unusual, historical diary entries show us that most parents still found them heartbreaking.
Unfortunately, in many countries today, a large share of parents still experience the loss of a child. The map here shows the share of mothers who lost a child before they reached the age of five.
In most of Europe and North America, this share is less than 1%. But in some of the world’s poorest countries — like Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic — more than one in three mothers have experienced this tragedy.
These figures come from a research article by Emily Smith-Greenaway and colleagues, based on reported or estimated data from 2010 to 2018 for mothers aged 20 to 44.
Read my colleague Max Roser’s article for more historical context around this data →
February 18, 2025
More land animals than ever before are slaughtered for meat
Global livestock numbers — tracked by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization since 1961 — have surged, with particularly large increases in the number of chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, and cows.
For many land animals, life is short and painful. Recent estimates indicate that globally, most animals are raised on factory farms. In the US, where better data and research are available, 99% of livestock is factory-farmed.
Explore many more interactive charts and articles on animal welfare →
February 17, 2025
Global sales of combustion engine cars have peaked
To decarbonize road transport, the world must move away from petrol and diesel cars and towards electric vehicles and other forms of low-carbon transport.
This transition has already started. In fact, global sales of combustion engine cars are well past the peak and are now falling.
As you can see in the chart, global sales peaked in 2018. This is calculated based on data from the International Energy Agency. Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates this peak occurred one year earlier, in 2017.
Sales of electric cars, on the other hand, are growing quickly.
February 14, 2025
In these nine Asian countries, child mortality has more than halved since the year 2000
Child mortality in Asia has fallen sharply. The chart shows nine countries that have reduced child mortality rates by more than half since 2000. This means millions more children surviving through the crucial early years of life.
In India, for example, child mortality fell from 9% to 3%. China saw a similar decrease from 4% to just 1%. Key reasons for these gains include improved nutrition, clean water, sanitation, vaccinations, and poverty reduction.
However, even with these improvements, rates of 1–6% still reflect hundreds of thousands of young lives lost each year in these countries.
This is a story of remarkable progress — but one that’s not yet finished.
February 13, 2025
Almost all livestock in the United States is factory-farmed
It’s difficult to quantify animal suffering in a single number, but one metric often used to measure living conditions is the number of animals raised on “factory farms”.
Factory farms are defined as “concentrated animal feeding operations” where many animals are held in an intensive feeding operation for more than 45 days.
99% of livestock in the United States is factory-farmed. This latest estimate comes from the Sentience Institute and is based on definitions and data from the US Environment Protection Agency.
The chart shows the share of different forms of livestock that are factory-farmed. More than 98% of chickens, turkeys, hens, pigs, and farmed fish are factory-farmed. Cows are a bit less likely to be factory-farmed, but three-quarters still spend much of their lives in these conditions.
February 12, 2025
Spring no more: France’s shift in birth patterns
What’s the most common season for babies to be born?
In many European countries, it’s late summer or autumn. Births are 5% to 10% more common in these months than others.
But this seasonal pattern used to be different. The chart shows the most common month for births each year. We’ve focused on France, which has data since the 1860s.
As you can see, spring was the most common season for births then. The pattern was temporarily disrupted during the two World Wars but continued until the late 20th century. Then, births shifted to later in the year, with late summer and autumn becoming more popular.
This shift also occurred in many other European countries and North America.
February 11, 2025
OECD countries give a smaller share of their national income to foreign aid today than in 1960
Over the last 60 years, the 32 high-income countries in the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) steadily increased the foreign aid they sent abroad. In total, aid rose from $39 billion to $213 billion, adjusted for inflation.
But while aid has grown in dollar terms, it has shrunk as a share of national income. Between 1960 and 2000, foreign aid as a percentage of national income fell sharply from 0.49% to 0.21%. Since then, it has recovered slightly to 0.37% but remains far below its 1960 level.
As a result, only five countries currently meet the UN’s target of dedicating at least 0.7% of their national income to foreign aid.
Explore foreign aid given as a share of national income by all countries →
February 10, 2025
The twin baby boom
The share of births that are twins has changed over time.
The chart shows data for France, Canada, the United States, and England & Wales in the Human Multiple Births Database.
As you can see, twin births have risen dramatically since the 1980s.
One reason is the use of reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), which have made it possible for many more couples to conceive. During procedures like IVF, multiple eggs can be used at the same time to maximize the chances of a successful pregnancy, which can lead to twin births.
Another reason for the rise in twin births is that the average age of women at childbirth has risen. Older women are more likely to have twin births, even without using reproductive technologies.
Twin births are a chance event, but data shows they can also be influenced by societal changes and reproductive technologies.
February 07, 2025
In 2004, it took the world a year to add a gigawatt of solar power — now it takes a day
To mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, the world needs to quickly transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources such as solar power.
The chart shows how much this transition has accelerated in the last two decades.
In 2004, it took the world about a year to add one gigawatt of solar power capacity. By 2023, the same amount was added, on average, every single day.
For reference, a gigawatt of solar is enough to power approximately 200,000 homes in the US.
Much of this growth has been driven by China, which by 2023 accounted for about 43% of the cumulative installed capacity worldwide.
A big reason for this acceleration has been a large decrease in the price of solar panels. Since 2001, the price has dropped by about 95%, from $6.21 to $0.31 per watt.
Learn more about why renewables like solar became so cheap so fast →