June 19, 2024
Most people agree that family is very important, no matter where they live.
Using data from the European Values Study and World Values Survey, the chart shows that a large majority of people worldwide declare family to be important in their lives. This share is above 80% in every country except six.
Only a small percentage of people say they find family “not very important” or “not important at all”.
Despite our disagreements, we should remember how much people across countries and cultures agree on what truly matters to them.
Today
When it comes to demographic trends, few are as well known as the “baby boom”.
The baby boom was a sharp rise in the fertility rate toward the end of the Second World War and for decades after. It happened in several countries around the world, but it was especially pronounced in the United States.
Before the baby boom, the US had seen a long-term decline in the fertility rate, down to about 2 children per woman by the 1930s.
During the baby boom, the fertility rate rose sharply, almost doubling to nearly 4 children per woman — levels that hadn’t been seen since the beginning of the 20th century. By the early 1970s, the fertility rate had returned to about 2 children per woman. Today, it’s just over 1.6.
It’s estimated that more than 70 million people were born in the US between 1946 and 1964, the official years of the baby boom according to the US Census Bureau. By 1964, this generation comprised almost 40% of the nation’s population.
As such a large generation, “baby boomers” have played a significant role in shaping many social, economic, and political trends in modern US history.
Learn more about fertility rates over time →
Yesterday
The number of people dying in road accidents in the United Kingdom has fallen by around three-quarters since 1970.
The chart shows the number of road deaths over time, based on data from the OECD, which we just updated. This includes the deaths of pedestrians, drivers, passengers, and cyclists.
In the early 1970s, there were around 8,000 road deaths per year. This has dropped below 2,000 in recent years. Deaths reached a low in 2020 due to reduced traffic from the COVID-19 pandemic but have rebounded slightly since then.
This multi-decade decline is even steeper when we look at the number of deaths per kilometer driven.
Explore road death data for other countries →
October 08
In 2023, wind power generated nearly 60% of Denmark’s electricity. This made Denmark the country with the highest share of wind in its electricity mix. This is based on data from Ember.
Wind also contributes significantly to Denmark’s broader energy system. Data from the Energy Institute shows that wind power accounts for over a quarter of Denmark’s total primary energy consumption — the largest figure globally.
Denmark also ranks first in per capita wind power generation, with Sweden close behind.
Explore more data on energy sources in our Data Explorer →
October 07
When I was born in 1993, one-third of people in the United Kingdom said they “would not want homosexual neighbors”. Today, that’s less than 5%.
As you can see in the chart, the acceptance of same-sex relationships has increased in many other countries, too. This data comes from the Integrated Values Survey.
Attitudes to homosexuality tend to be far more positive in Western Europe and North and South America than in other parts of the world. In many countries across Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, the majority of surveyed respondents still say they would not want homosexual neighbors.
Explore the data on attitudes to homosexuality across the world →
October 04
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has led to increased military spending not only in the two countries themselves but also in other neighboring countries.
The chart, using inflation-adjusted data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, shows that Russia has increased its military spending to support the invasion, while Ukraine has expanded its budget tenfold to defend itself.
The war has also motivated several of Russia’s other neighbors to increase their military spending. For instance, in 2023, Poland almost doubled its military spending from 15 to 27 billion US$, and Finland raised its budget from 4.5 to 6.9 billion US$.
Other neighboring countries, like Lithuania and Estonia, have so far not made increases as dramatic but have returned to the longer-term expansion of their military budgets.
Some Western European countries, especially Denmark, have also already increased their military spending after Russia’s invasion.
Explore military spending data for every country →
October 03
The chart shows how incomes are spread in several countries in different world regions. The data comes from the excellent Luxembourg Income Study.
Blue points show the monthly after-tax income of someone who falls just inside the richest 10% of their country's population. Red points show the income of someone who falls just inside the poorest 10%. To allow for comparisons, all incomes are shown in international dollars, which account for differences in cost of living across countries.
The ratio between these two numbers gives us a measure of inequality known as the “P90/P10 ratio”.
In Norway, a country with very low inequality, this ratio is around 3. A person just inside the richest 10% has a monthly income of $5,490 — a little more than 3 times the $1,760 earned by someone just inside the poorest 10%.
In the United States, inequality is much higher, and the ratio is twice as large — around 6. The chart shows that the richest 10% are much richer than those in Norway, with incomes above $7,440. But, the poorest are also poorer, with incomes of less than $1,240.
In many countries, the ratio is between 4 and 6. But in the most unequal countries, it is much higher. In South Africa, the ratio is 22. Those in the bottom decile are among the poorest people in the world, living on less than $110 per month. In contrast, the richest 10% earn $2,490 or above — higher than the incomes of half the UK population and nearly a third of the US population.
Explore incomes across the distribution for other countries in our dedicated Data Explorer →
October 02
Cobalt is a critical element in many lithium-ion battery technologies, which are used in most consumer electronics such as mobile phones and laptops; and more recently, in electric vehicles.
Almost three-quarters of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
However, the DRC produces virtually none of the world’s refined cobalt — the mineral used in final products. Most of the world’s refined cobalt is made in China.
You can see this in the chart, which shows each country’s share of global mined and refined cobalt production in 2021. This data comes from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and British Geological Survey (BGS).
While lithium-ion battery technologies that use cobalt are dominant today, alternative battery chemistries that don’t use cobalt are emerging.
Explore more data on which countries produce the world’s critical minerals →
