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Certain pathogens, like viruses and bacteria, can cause long-term inflammation or directly damage DNA in ways that eventually lead to cancer.

For example, hepatitis B and C viruses are key drivers of liver cancer. Some types of the human papillomavirus are responsible for cervical cancer. The bacterium H. pylori can cause stomach ulcers and cancers.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates that around 13% of cancers overall are directly caused by infections, as the chart shows.

For some cancer types, they estimate that infections cause nearly all cases. They’re listed at the top of the chart and include cervical cancer, adult T-cell leukemia and lymphoma, and non-cardia stomach cancer.

This is an area where prevention can be very powerful: by tackling the infections that cause them, we can stop these cancers before they start.

Vaccines for human papillomavirus and hepatitis B have already been developed and have lowered cancer rates in younger generations. Additionally, antibiotics for H. pylori, antiviral treatments, and improved hygiene can dramatically reduce the risks of other infections.

I recently wrote an article about the virus that causes cervical cancer and how vaccines can eliminate it. You can read it here →

There are considerable differences in access to healthcare across the world.

Rich countries have around ten times as many doctors per person as poor countries. You can see this in this chart, which shows the number of medical doctors per 1,000 people in a population. This includes generalist physicians as well as specialists.

The global average is around 1.7 doctors per 1,000. In low-income countries, the figure is around five times lower.

Explore more data on healthcare spending and access →

Homicide rates measure the number of intentional, illegal killings per 100,000 people annually.

Since 2000, rates in the United States have fluctuated around 6 homicides per 100,000. They fell from a peak of 6.7 in 2001 to 4.4 in 2014 but climbed back to 6.4 in 2022. Preliminary data suggests they fell back to 5.7 in 2023.

Over the same period, Europe’s rates fell from nearly 8 per 100,000 people in 2000 to just above 2 — a drop of almost three-quarters.

Explore homicide rates in many more countries →

In some countries such as Japan, the United States, or South Korea, almost all households have air conditioning in their homes. In others, almost none do. This includes countries like India or South Africa where extreme heat is frequent.

In this chart, you can see the share of households that had air conditioning (AC) in 2018. This data comes from the International Energy Agency.

Paying for the upfront cost of an AC unit is a key barrier to adoption, so as incomes rise, more people get access to them.

Access to air conditioning is becoming increasingly important as the world warms and extreme heat becomes more common.

Read more about how populations can protect themselves against extreme heat →

Cancer death rates rise steeply with age.

The chart shows this for a wide range of cancers, including bladder, breast, colorectal, stomach, and prostate cancer. The data comes from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Long-term exposure to risk factors — such as smoking, radiation, and certain infections — damages our cells. This damage accumulates with age, increasing the chances of cancerous mutations. In addition, our cells’ ability to repair this damage also weakens, allowing the mutations to accumulate.

Cervical cancer has a slightly different shape: its risks rise at a much younger age and then slow down. This is because it is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), typically spread through sexual contact at younger ages. Without HPV, it’s very rare for this cancer to develop, and infection can be prevented with early vaccination.

Read more about the risks of cancer with age →

Demographic trends, such as births and deaths, can be influenced by many factors. Wars or pandemics can lead to higher death rates, while lower child mortality and access to contraception reduce the number of births.

But specific cultural beliefs can also have a strong effect, as in Japan in 1966. As you can see in the chart, the UN estimates that births decreased by about 20% from 1965 to 1966.

The reason behind this drop is unusual. Children born in 1966 had the “fire horse” as their birth sign. According to astrological predictions, women born that year would bring bad fortune, especially for their future husbands.

Families who either believed this, or wanted to avoid the risk of their daughters having difficulty in the marriage market, chose not to have children that year. Couples may have abstained or used contraception, and in addition, the induced abortion rate in 1966 was significantly higher than in the surrounding years.

The next year of the fire horse is 2026. With the decline of these beliefs in Japan, fewer arranged marriages (where the birth sign might be a significant factor), and generally declining birth rates, we are unlikely to see this sharp drop in births again.

Explore more data on births and fertility in our Population & Demography explorer →

On average, Europeans consume more dairy products than people in other regions.

This chart shows the milk supply per person in each of the world’s regions. This is based on data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It’s based on supply — the amount of milk available for consumption. It includes consumer waste, so it is a bit higher than the amount that is consumed in the end.

As you can see, the per-capita supply for Europe is more than twice the global average. People across Africa and Asia consume far less.

These numbers include dairy products such as yogurt and cheese, based on how much milk is used to produce them.

Explore country-by-country data on milk supply →

In 2000, adults in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa had, on average, fewer than five years of schooling. That’s not enough to complete primary education.

But, as the chart shows, a lot of progress has been made since then. Adults older than 25 have gained more than two additional years of schooling, a 50% increase since 2000.

Latin American and East Asian countries have also made substantial gains, starting from a higher baseline.

This data is about adults. Children today can expect many more years of schooling, showing just how much progress has been made.

Of course, simply being in school isn’t enough; kids also need to learn while they’re there. And while more years of schooling generally mean more learning opportunities, it’s important to remember that millions of children in these regions still aren’t in school at all.

Discover more insights on access to basic education →

Over the past two centuries, the global share of children enrolled in primary school has increased dramatically. In 1820, fewer than 1 in 20 children were enrolled in primary school. Today, the figure is nearly 9 out of 10.

Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, made remarkable progress for several decades, with enrollment rising from 57% in 1985 to 77% by 2010. Yet, as the chart shows, progress has stalled in the past decade, plateauing just under 80%.

In North America and Western Europe, near-universal primary school enrollment was achieved by the mid-1900s, with rates consistently above 95% since 1985.

Explore how far the world has come in expanding access to basic education and how much further we have to go →

How has the risk of dying from cancer changed in the United States?

To understand this, we can look at national cancer death rates in the United States.

The gray line shows the crude rate, which is the rate of deaths from cancer per 100,000 people. It has risen between 1950 and 1990 and has fallen slightly since then.

However, cancer death rates rise sharply with age, and the age of the US population has increased since 1950, so we would expect cancer death rates to rise for that reason alone.

What if we adjust for the increased age of the US population?

The red line, the age-standardized rate, shows this. It shows the cancer death rate if the age structure of the US population was held constant throughout.

This shows a slight rise until 1990 and then a significant decline; rates have fallen by one-third.

This means Americans are now one-third less likely to die from cancer at the same ages as Americans in 1990.

This comes from several factors: better screening and earlier diagnosis, medical advances in cancer treatments, and public health efforts to reduce risk factors like smoking and exposure to carcinogens.

Explore this trend in other countries →

Around the world, 10 cows, 47 pigs, and 2,400 chickens get killed for meat every second.

Recent estimates suggest that 99% of livestock in the United States is factory-farmed. Globally, the majority of animals are raised on factory farms.

For many of these animals, life is short and painful.

Newborn calves are typically taken from their mothers shortly after birth, causing distress for both. Castrating and cutting off piglets' tails without anesthesia is common practice. Chickens grow so quickly that after six weeks, many struggle to stand for long and spend most of their time lying down. These animals require high doses of antibiotics to survive in poor living conditions.

There are ways to make life less harsh for farm animals. Reducing meat consumption can lessen the demand for factory farming and its associated harms. Moreover, slowing chicken growth rates or giving hens better living spaces can help reduce their suffering.

These figures are based on estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Explore many more charts in our Animal Welfare Explorer →

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. In several countries, it is the most common cause of death.

But which cancer types cause the most deaths?

The map presents the most common type of cancer death among men. This is based on the cause listed on death certificates, compiled by the WHO Mortality Database. Unfortunately, many countries are not shown as they lack sufficient death registration.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of male cancer deaths in many countries, primarily driven by smoking.

In parts of Latin America, prostate cancer leads. Although it has high survival rates in richer countries, it is common and can reach late stages before diagnosis, which limits treatment options.

Stomach cancer — shown in purple on the map — is the leading cause in several Central Asian countries. It is primarily caused by H. pylori infections. In wealthier countries, infections have declined thanks to better food safety, hygiene, and antibiotics.

Liver cancer, leading in Mongolia, Thailand, and Egypt, is often the result of inflammation caused by long-term alcohol consumption or hepatitis virus infection.

Learn more about the rates of different cancers and how they have changed over time →

The chart shows the share of children at the end of lower-secondary school age — aged 12 to 15 — who meet the minimum proficiency set by UNESCO in reading comprehension. This means they can connect the main ideas across various texts, understand the author’s intentions, and draw reasoned conclusions.

Only around half of children of this age can read this well. In countries like Ireland and South Korea, more than 8 in 10 children reach this level. But in poorer countries like Senegal, Zambia, and Cambodia, fewer than 1 in 20 do.

These numbers include all children of middle school age, not just those who attend school.

Explore the most recent education data from UNESCO, now available in our updated charts →

To tackle climate change, the world needs to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. But before we reduce emissions, we need to stop them rising; the world needs to pass the peak.

Globally, total CO2 emissions are still slowly increasing. The Global Carbon Project just released its preliminary estimates for 2024, which suggest another 0.8% increase.

However, while total emissions have not yet peaked, emissions per person have. Globally, per capita CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels peaked in 2012. When land use emissions — which are more uncertain and noisier — are included, they peaked in the 1970s and have fluctuated since then. You can see both trends in the chart.

This suggests that, globally, lifestyles are slowly decarbonizing. However, to come closer to our global climate targets, economies must decarbonize much faster to push total emissions into decline.

Explore the latest CO2 emissions data in our updated charts →

Measles vaccination has saved 94 million lives globally since 1974. Of those, 92 million were children.

The chart shows the number of lives saved by different childhood vaccines in the last 50 years. These estimates come from Andrew Shattock and colleagues and are based on global data on diseases, causes of death, vaccination rates, and vaccine efficacy.

Measles vaccines rank the highest in the total number of lives saved.

Measles is especially contagious and deadly. The virus depletes immune cells, making it harder to fight off measles and making other infections much more life-threatening. It can also erase immune memory to infections and vaccines that children have already encountered.

Before vaccines, almost all children caught measles, and it was a common cause of disability and death. With high measles vaccination rates, millions of lives are saved globally each year.

Read more in our article about the impact of global vaccination →

Today, Africa is home to 1.5 billion people. By 2070, the UN expects this number to more than double. Its estimates range from 2.7 billion to 3.7 billion, with the most likely scenario placing the African population around 3.2 billion.

This region is where most of the growth in the world population will occur in the next 50 years.

Europe’s population is already shrinking, with Asia and Latin America expected to follow from the 2050s onwards. The UN expects North America’s population to grow, although much slower than Africa's.

Read more about population growth →

Economic growth is most important for the world's poorest people, and most of the world’s poorest live on the African continent. Are Africa’s economies growing?

The picture is mixed. In some countries, incomes have unfortunately declined in the last decades. This includes Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and Burundi. I have written about this in my brief explainer on extreme poverty.

In today’s Daily Data Insight, I want to focus on the other side: I want to highlight the African countries that are achieving economic growth. Nine of them are shown in the chart above.

In all nine countries, people’s average incomes have more than doubled since 1990.

This made substantial improvements in living standards possible: the share of people in extreme poverty and the rate of child mortality declined in all nine countries.

If you want to know more about the importance of growth and how it can be measured, you could read my article: What is economic growth? And why is it so important? →