July 25, 2024
Cases of guinea worm disease have fallen dramatically in recent decades. According to the WHO, over 890,000 cases were recorded worldwide in 1989. As you can see on the chart — which we just updated with the latest data — only 14 human cases were reported in 2023.
Guinea worm disease is caused by the parasitic guinea worm, which mainly spreads through stagnant water sources like ponds. The worm’s larvae enter the human body when a person drinks contaminated water, after which they penetrate the digestive tract to mature and reproduce within the body.
Around a year after the initial infection, the adult female breaks through the skin's surface, creating a painful blister through which it gradually emerges over several weeks. When it comes into contact with water, it releases new larvae and continues its life cycle.
The disease was previously endemic in over 20 countries in South Asia and Africa. An international eradication campaign has substantially decreased the number of cases by improving access to clean drinking water and actively monitoring and containing cases in endemic regions.
Learn more about the effort to eradicate guinea worm disease →
Today
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.
Explore the same data for many more countries →
September 13
According to the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy, in 2023, Chile produced 9.4% of its primary energy from solar sources, the highest share in any country. When we look at electricity alone, solar produced 20% of the total.
This marks a trend of continued year-on-year growth in a country that, just a decade earlier, generated almost no electricity from solar.
Chile's growth has been faster than that of other solar champions like Spain and Australia, where the adoption of these technologies started earlier.
Much of Chile's solar energy is captured in the Atacama Desert. This region, in Northern Chile, receives the highest level of sunlight exposure in the world and is home to Latin America’s first solar thermal plant.
Explore data on energy production and sources, country by country →
September 12
The chart shows net migration trends for Venezuela, Peru, Chile, and Colombia from 1950 to 2023. This is the net difference between immigrants coming into a country and emigrants leaving. This data published by the UN World Population Prospects shows how significant this demographic event is in the region’s recent history.
Starting around 2015, Venezuela's net migration dropped sharply, with a record 1.36 million people emigrating in 2018. The timing of this shift, accelerating from 2015 onwards, coincides with Venezuela's worsening economic and political instability.
At the same time, wealthier countries like Peru, Chile, and Colombia experienced significant increases in net migration, which suggests they have become major destinations for Venezuelan migrants. This trend is even clearer when visualizing where immigrants from Venezuela moved to.
Explore net migration patterns in other countries →
September 11
Unsafe sanitation is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. It increases the risk of many fatal diseases, including cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio.
Unfortunately, over 40% of the world does not have access to safe sanitation facilities. This is based on estimates from the WHO/UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene.
The chart shows the share of the global population that has access to safe sanitation over time. While rates have increased, particularly over the last decade, they still fall far short of the UN’s target of universal access in 2030.
Increasing access to safe sanitation would save many lives from preventable infectious diseases.
Explore the data →
September 10
The chart shows that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, governments’ social spending amounted to very little. Countries spent, at most, 1 to 2% of their national income on public social services.
This changed significantly over the 20th century: public social spending in wealthy countries now amounts to between 15% and 30% of national income.
The biggest reasons for this increase are higher expenditure on healthcare and education.
This data comes from the OECD and Peter Lindert’s history of social spending.
Read more about the history of government spending →
September 09
The chart shows the death rates from respiratory infections in countries since 1950.
Data comes from the WHO Mortality Database, which compiles data reported by each country. The data typically comes with a few years of delay since it needs to be standardized.
It helps us to look back and see the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from a historical perspective.
As you can see, there has been a long-run decline in respiratory infection death rates. This is due to improved sanitation, healthcare, and vaccination against diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, and pertussis.
But during the pandemic, death rates from respiratory infections surged massively due to COVID-19 and reached levels not seen in many decades.
Explore the data on respiratory infection death rates for other countries →
September 06
The chart shows how much people rely on rail versus road transport in 2021. The data comes from the OECD, and we recently updated our charts with the latest release.
Japan stands out with 28% of passenger kilometers traveled by rail. This contrasts sharply with New Zealand and the United States, where rail accounts for only 1.4% and 0.25% of passenger kilometers, respectively.
In Western European countries, rail transport is still in the minority, but less so. In France, 10% of passenger kilometers are traveled by rail, 6.4% in Germany, and 5% in the United Kingdom.
Countries with well-developed rail networks and high usage also tend to have lower domestic transport-related CO2 emissions.
Explore passenger kilometers traveled by road and rail in other countries →
