September 16, 2024
Infancy used to be an extremely dangerous time of life.
As the chart shows, around 20% of girls in Sweden died before their first birthday in the 18th century. This was higher than the risk among 80-year-olds — at that age, 10% to 20% died each year.
Since then, the risk of dying has reduced across all ages, but the reduction has been most profound for infants. Rates have fallen 100-fold.
This progress has come from improvements in hygiene, clean water and sanitation, vaccination, nutrition, neonatal healthcare, and surgery.
The data comes from the Human Mortality Database and the United Nations World Population Prospects. I’ve shown data from Sweden, which has the longest historical records, stretching back to the 1750s.
Today
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death. But which cancer types cause the most deaths?
The map presents the most common type of cancer that kills women in each country. 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.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in many countries.
However, lung cancer leads in parts of North America, Europe, and Australia. It is primarily driven by smoking.
In other countries, stomach, liver, or cervical cancers are at the top. Many of these cases are preventable: most stomach cancer cases are caused by H. pylori infections; many liver cancer cases by chronic inflammation from alcohol or hepatitis infections; and almost all cervical cancers are caused by HPV infections, which are preventable through HPV vaccination.
Explore the interactive map with a more detailed breakdown →
Yesterday
Relative to its personnel, the United States spends much more on its military than other major countries.
The chart shows data on military spending per service member, sometimes called a military’s “capital intensity”.
We calculated this metric by dividing spending data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) by data on personnel from multiple sources via the World Bank.
This indicator reflects differences in salaries and benefits for military personnel and more advanced and costly weaponry.
In 2020, the United States spent well over half a million dollars per service member. This was 50% more than the United Kingdom, more than double Germany’s spending per personnel, about six times China’s, and more than twenty times that of Brazil or India.
Explore the capital intensity of militaries worldwide →
November 08
Ipsos surveyed British people about the most critical issues facing the country and the most important issues they face personally.
The chart shows the answers across nine different issues. Immigration stands out for having the largest difference between national and personal concerns. 32% see it as a top issue for Britain, but only 4% feel it is one of the most important issues they face personally.
For other topics like healthcare and crime, people also show more concern for Britain than themselves, but the difference is much smaller.
See how immigration numbers compare across countries →
November 07
For decades, the World Values Survey and European Values Study projects have examined people’s values through their surveys. One of the questions on trust asks: “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?”
This chart shows the share of respondents who answered “most people can be trusted” across different countries.
As you can see, reported trust in others varies widely from country to country. In the Nordic nations, over 60% of respondents believe most people can be trusted, while in France and Italy, this figure drops to around 26%. At the lower end, as few as 5% of people in countries like Colombia and Peru express trust in others.
It’s worth noting that interpretations of survey-based “trust” measures are complex: what people mean when they answer this question could reflect various ideas about trust, personal experiences, or cultural attitudes toward trustworthiness.
Explore trust levels for all countries →
November 06
The decline in manufacturing jobs — such as those in factories or industrial plants — often draws significant attention in political debates and media reports in the US, especially when tied to discussions about trade policies, globalization, or job losses in key industries.
This focus can sometimes overshadow that manufacturing jobs are already a relatively small part of the labor market. In the US, for example, they account for less than 10% of total employment.
The chart shows the evolution of manufacturing as a proportion of total employment in the US and five other rich countries, using estimates compiled by the UN.
Across all countries, manufacturing employment has declined. In the US, it fell from 13% in 2000 to just below 10% in 2022. Even in Germany, where it is the highest among this group, manufacturing is now down to less than 20%.
Explore the data on the share of manufacturing jobs in other countries →
November 05
China’s patent applications have grown rapidly in recent decades, as shown in the chart. Chinese applications surpassed US applications in 2010, reaching over 1.4 million in 2021. According to this data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China’s applications accounted for more than half of the global total in 2021.
In contrast, patent applications in the US have seen little growth in recent years, while in Japan, filings have steadily declined since 2000.
Innovations are patented due to economic incentives. A patent protects the invention to the owner for a limited period, often 20 years. This is why policymakers and researchers frequently compare annual patent filings across countries — new patents are considered a proxy for the pace of innovation.
However, patents are just one aspect of innovation. A country’s innovation system is shaped by a complex network of research, development, and commercialization, and patent applications are just one part of this broader process.
Read more about technological progress →
November 04
Immigrants without legal status are only a small fraction of the total immigrant population in most rich countries.
For example, just 7% of immigrants in the United Kingdom lack legal status. It’s 4% in Germany and less than 2% in the Netherlands. The United States stands out, with 22% of its immigrant population lacking legal status — that’s about one in five.
The estimates of immigrants without legal status come from the Measuring Irregular Migration (MIrreM) project and are for one specific year between 2017 and 2023. The total immigrant numbers are from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2020).
Explore data on immigration for more countries →
