August 19, 2024
Smallpox was a deadly disease that has been recorded since ancient times. It killed around 30% of those who developed the disease.
In 1980, it became the first disease to be eradicated worldwide. This considerable achievement resulted from centuries of coordinated effort and scientific development.
People were able to fight the virus by developing and refining smallpox vaccines, using quarantine control measures, and applying ring vaccination.
Many countries — in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and many island nations — eliminated smallpox around a century ago. This is shown on the map, whose data was compiled by researchers Frank Fenner and colleagues in 1988.
Smallpox continued to kill in many countries in South Asia, Africa, and South America until the 1970s. It remains a vivid memory for many older people alive today.
Read more about the history of smallpox and its eradication →
Today
In 1991, fewer than 15% of people in Bangladesh had access to electricity. Thirty years later, access was almost universal.
Over 100 million Bangladeshis have gained access to electricity during this time. This enables them to light their homes, use household appliances, or stay connected through phones and the Internet.
The statistic measures the lowest “tier” of energy access: the capacity for basic lighting and charging a phone for at least four hours a day. But more than half the people in Bangladesh now also have a higher tier of electricity access, which means capacity to power high-load appliances (such as fridges) and electricity for more than eight hours a day.
The UN has set a target to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030. Currently, about 9 in 10 people worldwide have basic access to electricity.
You can explore the progress in other countries in our SDG Tracker here →
Yesterday
Global cement production grew rapidly through the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. In the decade from 2003 to 2013 alone, production doubled from 2 to 4 billion tonnes.
But, as you can see in the chart, this growth has stalled in the last 10 years. There has been some variation from year to year, but overall, global production has stayed around 4 billion tonnes. This data comes from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
China was a significant driver of global growth in the 1990s and 2000s but has also reached a plateau in production. It now produces more than half of the world’s cement.
Cement production makes up around 7% of global CO2 emissions.
Explore global trends in other metals and minerals in our data explorer →
January 15
Some countries take in far more refugees than others relative to their population.
A refugee is defined by the UN as someone needing international protection, who has fled their home country and whose home country’s government cannot or will not protect them.
This chart shows the cumulative number of refugees per 1,000 people in the country where they live as of 2023.
There are huge differences between countries: Lebanon hosts 137 refugees for every 1,000 residents — over four times as many as Germany (31) or Poland (25). Those numbers are still much higher than the Netherlands (13) and France (10), far above the United States at just 1.2 refugees per 1,000 residents.
These differences reflect conflicts in neighboring regions and national policies welcoming or deterring refugees.
Explore the number of refugees per 1,000 people for more destination countries →
January 14
The experience of poverty goes far beyond having no or low income. Unfortunately, still in many countries today, a large share of people experience severe poverty in many areas of life, such as health, education, and living standards.
To capture this broader reality, researchers from the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative and the UN Development Programme developed the global Multidimensional Poverty Index. This group of indicators measures poverty across essential areas of well-being, capturing whether people are undernourished, whether they lost a child, and lack access to education or basic facilities like clean water or electricity.
The map shows the share of the population in each country living in multidimensional poverty, highlighting where households face overlapping deprivations.
In countries across South America and some in East Asia, this share is less than 10%. But in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the people experience these extreme conditions. The share even exceeds 4 in 5 people in Niger (91%), Chad (84%), and the Central African Republic (80%).
These figures are based on data from over 100 countries drawn from household surveys conducted between 2011 and 2023.
Read more on our article: Beyond income: understanding poverty through the Multidimensional Poverty Index →
January 13
The number of children in the world has stopped growing. This moment in time was given the term “peak child” by the late Hans Rosling.
The chart shows the estimated number of children under five years old globally up to 2023, with projections from the United Nations out to 2100. The UN thinks the number of under-5s peaked in 2017.
The chart also shows the number of young people under 15, which peaked in 2021. And the number of under-25s, which may have peaked last year.
“Peak child” is a sign that the world is on course for “peak population”. The UN expects the world population to start falling before the end of the century.
Read more about the key insights from the latest UN World Population Prospects →
January 10
Almost one-quarter of adults in the world smoke tobacco. However, there are significant differences by gender.
More than one-third of men smoke, while less than one in ten women do.
Men are more likely to smoke in almost every country in the world. You can see this on the chart, which plots the share of men who smoke versus the share of women. Nearly all countries lie above the diagonal line, which means more men smoke than women.
This data is collated and published by the World Bank. It’s based on adults aged 15 years and older and includes all tobacco products.
Explore all of our data and research on smoking across the world →
January 09
Childhood cancer deaths in the United States have fallen dramatically over time, as shown in the chart. It presents annual cancer death rates in children under five years old.
There has been a six-fold decline since the 1950s.
This progress reflects decades of collaboration between scientists, clinicians, and public health workers.
One major success story has been in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a common form of leukemia in children: researchers identified genetic mutations that caused the disease, making it possible to develop targeted chemotherapy drugs that have greatly improved survival. Surgeries, bone marrow transplants, and other treatments have also played a role.
We’ve also seen big improvements for other blood cancers, such as lymphomas and multiple myeloma, though progress has been slower for cancers of the brain and nervous system.
Explore more data on our page on cancer →
