Our World
in Data
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Simon van Teutem

Writer
Portrait of Simon van Teutem

Simon worked with us from 2024 to 2025. He brought several years of writing experience with Dutch media outlet De Correspondent, where he focused on topics such as migration, aging populations, factory farming, and politics.

Simon van Teutem

Writer

Simon worked with us from 2024 to 2025. He brought several years of writing experience with Dutch media outlet De Correspondent, where he focused on topics such as migration, aging populations, factory farming, and politics.

Portrait of Simon van Teutem

Topics covered by Simon on Our World in Data

Featured work

November 11, 2024

How do countries measure immigration, and how accurate is this data?

Countries estimate how many people move in and out using censuses, surveys, and border records. How accurate are these numbers, and can they account for illegal migration?

Latest work

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September 29, 2025

Foreign aid from the United States saved millions of lives each year

For decades, these aid programs received bipartisan support and made a difference. Cutting them will cost lives.

August 25, 2025

Global inequality is huge — but so is the opportunity for people in high-income countries to support poor people

People in high-income countries could dramatically improve lives worldwide with minimal financial commitment, yet few do.

July 07, 2025

There are now more than half a billion mobile money accounts in the world, mostly in Africa — here's why this matters

Mobile money allows people without banks to securely transfer funds via text message, and its adoption is growing rapidly.

A line graph features multiple colored lines, each representing a different data set over a continuous variable. The x-axis displays a measurement scale, likely indicating time or categories, while the y-axis represents a quantitative value. Several lines fluctuate in varying patterns; one line, colored purple, shows a significant increase toward the end, peaking higher than the others. Other lines include shades of blue, green, orange, and brown, which display more stable or moderate increases and decreases. The overall trend indicates a divergence in the datasets, with some lines remaining relatively stable while others experience considerable changes.

April 14, 2025

What is foreign aid? How “Official Development Assistance” is measured

Foreign aid measurement is complicated — what exactly counts as Official Development Assistance, what doesn’t, and how much is actually spent abroad?

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March 24, 2025

How much foreign aid is spent domestically rather than overseas?

In many countries, a substantial share of aid is spent domestically on hosting refugees, offering student scholarships, and administrative costs.

The image features an abstract design with flowing, wavy lines in varying shades of green and purple.

January 13, 2025

The great global redistributor we never hear about: money sent or brought back by migrants

Migrants send or bring back over three times the amount of money provided by global foreign aid. Cutting transaction fees could make this support even more effective in reducing poverty.

A colorful, abstract data visualization featuring horizontal bands of various colors, including teal, blue, purple, orange, and brown. These bands are overlaid with flowing lines in different hues that crisscross and interact, creating intricate patterns. The lines represent connections or relationships between the different color bands, suggesting data movement or transitions. The background is a pale cream color, enhancing the contrast and visibility of the colored bands and lines. No specific labels or data sources are visible in the image.

December 16, 2024

Most international migrants don’t move very far from their home countries

Short-distance moves dominate global migration patterns. Most migrants don’t cross oceans or continents; they cross nearby borders, staying close to home.