How are causes of death registered around the world?
In many countries, when people die, the cause of their death is officially registered in their country’s national system. How is this determined?
August 9, 2023
Article
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August 9, 2023
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Risk ratios, odds ratios, risk differences: How do researchers calculate the risk from a risk factor?
The effects of risk factors can be calculated in different ways. How are they calculated and interpreted?
August 9, 2023
Article
Why isn’t it possible to sum up the death toll from different risk factors?
Deaths caused by each risk factor can’t be added up. By understanding why, we will have a better understanding of how many lives can be saved with each intervention.
July 27, 2023
Article
The limits of our personal experience and the value of statistics
The world is huge; to get a clear idea of what our world is like, we have to rely on carefully collected, well-documented statistics.
July 18, 2023
Article
SDG Tracker: Measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals
Our World in Data’s Sustainable Development Goals Tracker
July 11, 2023
Article
How are incomes adjusted for inflation?
Adjusting incomes for inflation is crucial if we want to learn how standards of living are changing. How is this adjustment done?
July 6, 2023
Article
How has income inequality within countries evolved over the past century?
While the steep rise of inequality in the United States is well-known, long-run data on the incomes of the richest shows countries have followed a variety of trajectories.
July 6, 2023
Article
OWID Data Collection: Inequality and Poverty
Explore a wide range of indicators on inequality and poverty and compare sources.
July 3, 2023
Article
Income inequality before and after taxes: how much do countries redistribute income?
The redistribution of income achieved by governments through taxes and benefits varies hugely.
June 30, 2023
Article
Measuring inequality: what is the Gini coefficient?
The Gini coefficient is the most common way of measuring inequality. But what does it actually measure? And how does it differ from other measures of inequality?
June 26, 2023
Article
Homicide data: how sources differ and when to use which one
There are several ways to measure homicides. What approaches do different sources take? And when is which approach best?
June 2, 2023
Article
Population momentum: if the number of children per woman is falling, why is the population still increasing?
50 years ago, the total fertility rate was five. This figure has more than halved. Yet the global population is still rising — why?
May 26, 2023
Article
How do researchers study the prevalence of mental illnesses?
Global data on mental health is essential to understand the scale and patterns of these illnesses, and how to reduce them. How do researchers collect this data, and how reliable is it?
May 26, 2023
Article
How are mental illnesses defined?
Mental illnesses are a range of conditions that significantly affect people’s lives. What are their symptoms?
April 27, 2023
Article
How is food insecurity measured?
Billions of people suffer from food insecurity. What does it mean to be food insecure?
April 18, 2023
Article
Learning curves: What does it mean for a technology to follow Wright’s Law?
Technologies that follow Wright’s Law get cheaper at a consistent rate, as the cumulative production of that technology increases.
April 11, 2023
Article
Mortality in the past: every second child died
The chances that a newborn survives childhood have increased from 50% to 96% globally. How do we know about the mortality of children in the past? And what can we learn from it for our future?
April 4, 2023
Article
How does age standardization make health metrics comparable?
Age standardization is a statistical method used to compare disease rates, or other health indicators, between populations while accounting for differences in their age structure.
March 29, 2023
Article
Artificial intelligence has advanced despite having few resources dedicated to its development — now investments have increased substantially
The available resources have increased substantially. We should expect that the field continues to advance rapidly.
March 28, 2023
Article
What is Moore's Law?
Exponential growth is at the heart of the rapid increase of computing capabilities.
March 18, 2023
Article
Two centuries of rapid global population growth will come to an end
Global population grew rapidly over the past century, but this period of fast growth is coming to an end.