Latest

Twice as long — life expectancy around the world

Life expectancy has doubled over the last two centuries around the world. How has this happened?

Max Roser

What were the world's deadliest earthquakes?

Hannah Ritchie

The Internet's history has just begun

The Internet has already changed the world, but the big changes it will bring still lie ahead.

Max Roser

How rinderpest was eradicated

Rinderpest was a disease that primarily infected cattle and buffalo. Thanks to a decades-long international campaign, it was the first animal disease to be eradicated.

Sophie Ochmann and Hannah Behrens

How urban is the world?

More than half of the world live in urban areas, and this will continue to grow.

Hannah Ritchie

Now it is possible to take stock - did the world achieve the Millennium Development Goals?

Substantial progress has been achieved in the first 15 years of the new millennium, but in most aspects not as fast as the achievement of the MDGs required.

Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser

The map we need if we want to think about how global living conditions are changing

By showing us where the people in the world are, cartograms help us understand global living conditions better.

Max Roser

FAQs on plastics

Common questions about plastic pollution.

Hannah Ritchie

New teaching notes from Our World in Data

Materials with key interactive data visualizations for five of our most popular topics.

Esteban Ortiz-Ospina

Why is carbon pricing in some countries more successful than in others?

Carbon pricing can be an effective way to reduce emissions. Why is it more successful in some countries?

Guest Authors

Most of us are wrong about how the world has changed — especially those who are pessimistic about the future

The majority of people believe that the share of people in extreme poverty is rising. The opposite is true.

Max Roser

Our World in Data for teaching – what we are learning from your feedback

Esteban Ortiz-Ospina

The past and future of global change – Max's slides for his talk at the UN

How rapidly the world is changing, and what further changes are needed to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Max Roser

How is literacy measured?

An overview of how literacy is defined, and how estimates compare to other measures of educational achievement.

Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Diana Beltekian

Long-run trends in military spending and personnel: four key facts from new data

Do most countries devote resources to maintain armies even when they are not immersed in a critical conflict? How are military capabilities changing in the 21st century?

Esteban Ortiz-Ospina

The missing economic measure: wealth

Gross domestic product (GDP) is increasingly seen as an incomplete measure of economic activity. Another measure gaining traction as a supplement to GDP is national wealth.

Sandra Tzvetkova and Cameron Hepburn

Shrink emissions, not the economy

Decoupling emissions from the economy is possible.

Guest Authors

How and why should we study ‘economic complexity’?

The Economic Complexity Index offers insights into how diversified and sophisticated a country's export profile is. This matters for economic growth and development potential.

Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Diana Beltekian

Learning for our Millennium? The changing face of education access, quality and uptake in Ethiopia

Understanding education challenges and progress in Ethiopia through the Young Lives Study.

Guest Authors

Definitions of world regions

Which countries make up the world regions commonly used in our charts?

Our World in Data team

A sense of units and scale for electrical energy production and consumption

How does the electricity output of different sources compare?

Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser