September 18, 2024
Drug-related death rates have increased six-fold in Canada and the United States over two decades, according to recent data from the World Health Organization’s Global Health Estimates. We have just updated our charts with the latest data.
In 2000, drug-related death rates in Canada and the United States were reasonably similar to rates in other countries. But since then, deaths from drugs, particularly opioids, have risen sharply.
Opioids include prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin, synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and drugs like heroin.
Over recent years, opioids have become common in the management of chronic pain, and they’ve become much easier to access on the illicit drug market.
Explore data on deaths from drug use and other health issues in our Global Health Explorer →
Today
When asked where public spending should be reduced most, around 60% of people in the UK suggest cutting foreign aid.
However, people overestimate how much the UK spends on aid: last year’s UK Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses show that overseas aid amounted to £5.1 billion — just about 74 pounds per person.
As the chart shows, this is a tiny part of public spending, making up only 0.5% of the total budget.
To put this in perspective, the UK spends much more on other areas: over eight times as much on public order and safety, ten times more on defense, and forty times more on each of the two biggest expenses: health and welfare.
Spending is not much higher if we also consider funds dedicated to supporting refugees in the UK itself.
This situation is not specific to 2023: the UK’s foreign aid spending has been at similar levels for decades and is in line with what other wealthy countries spend. Compared to the size of its budget and economy, foreign aid is a relatively small expense.
Explore spending on foreign aid in the UK and other countries →
Yesterday
Homelessness is defined differently around the world, making it difficult to compare the issue across countries.
The map shows the forms of homelessness included in country statistics, as recorded by the Institute of Global Homelessness.
Sources distinguish three broad forms of homelessness: people with no accommodation who sleep in the streets or public spaces; people in temporary accommodation, such as emergency shelters; and people in severely inadequate housing, such as tents or slums.
Country statistics vary in which forms they include, with some countries focusing on just one type while others cover multiple combinations. Many sources do not provide enough details to know which forms of homelessness they refer to.
Despite these challenges, the data on homelessness has recently improved. The Institute of Global Homelessness has collected data on the completeness of national statistics, and the OECD has worked on making the statistics of their members comparable by using the same definitions of homelessness across them.
Learn more about the challenges of measuring homelessness →
October 29
In recent years, migration has prevented population decline among high-income countries.
The World Bank defines high-income countries as those with a gross national income (GNI) per capita of over $14,000 in 2023. It includes countries like the United States, Chile, and Poland.
The chart shows annual population growth with and without migration in these countries.
The green line, which includes migration, shows that populations in high-income countries are still growing.
What would this have looked like without migration? The blue line gives you the answer — it shows the annual population growth only considering births and deaths in the country. It has been falling for decades and went negative in 2020.
Note that these figures apply to high-income countries as a group; in some countries, such as Italy or Japan, the total population is shrinking, even when considering migration. This data comes from the World Population Prospects dataset published by the United Nations.
Explore more data on population growth →
October 28
Life expectancy at birth dropped significantly across the world in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, rates are now returning to pre-pandemic levels. The chart shows this rebound, based on the latest estimates from the UN’s World Population Prospects.
Global life expectancy in 2022 matched the 2019 figure at 72.6 years. And it increased again in 2023, to 73.2 years.
Explore more insights from the latest revision of the UN’s population statistics →
October 25
Japan closed down most of its nuclear plants after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011, and nuclear production dropped dramatically.
You can see this in the chart above, which shows the electricity mix of Japan since 1985. It’s based on data from the Energy Institute.
Fossil fuel plants — notably coal — were ramped up to keep the lights on. But some nuclear plants have come back online, which is why you see nuclear production start to rise again.
Read our article on the death toll of the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters →
October 24
People tend to think there are more immigrants in their country than there really are.
In the United States, for example, the average person believes that 33% of people were not born there. However, official estimates from government agencies show that the figure is just 15% — less than half as many.
In Japan, people guess that 10% of the population are immigrants, but the accurate figure is around 2%. For every 5 immigrants people think exist, there is only one in reality.
As the chart shows, this mismatch is common everywhere. The data comes from the 2023 Ipsos Perils of Perception report.
Explore the immigrant population share for all countries →
October 23
Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two Caribbean countries that share the same island, Hispaniola. However, despite sharing the same island, the two nations have developed very differently in recent decades. In 1990, Dominicans had twice the GDP per capita of Haitians. 32 years later, they are seven times richer than Haitians.
The chart shows both trajectories. While the Dominican Republic experienced sustained growth during the three decades, Haiti’s GDP per capita has barely grown and, at times, even slightly decreased. To allow for comparisons, all incomes are shown in international dollars, which account for differences in cost of living across countries.
Today, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas.
Explore economic growth in your country →
