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How many children did not die thanks to progress in global health?
Thanks to improvements in global health, more than 100 million children have been saved since 1990.
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How effective are policies in reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture?
All countries now have policies, but not all work as intended. Some drive trade-offs or lead to spillover impacts elsewhere, but there are many examples of successful stories.
Hannah Ritchie
Key lessons from our work on the COVID-19 pandemic are now published in Lancet Public Health
Our peer-reviewed article outlines seven ways to publish data better.
Bastian Herre, Lucas Rodés-Guirao, Edouard Mathieu, Hannah Ritchie, Charlie Giattino, Joe Hasell, Saloni Dattani, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser
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Bite-sized insights on how the world is changing.
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The global eradication of polio is within reach
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Over 33,000 near-Earth asteroids have been detected since 1990
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Featured data from our collection of more than 12800 interactive charts.
Under-five mortality rate Long-run estimates combining data from UN & Gapminder
What share of children die before their fifth birthday.
What could be more tragic than the death of a young child? Child mortality, the death of children under the age of five, is still extremely common in our world today.
The historical data makes clear that it doesn’t have to be this way: it is possible for societies to protect their children and reduce child mortality to very low rates. For child mortality to reach low levels, many things have to go right at the same time: good healthcare , good nutrition , clean water and sanitation , maternal health , and high living standards . We can, therefore, think of child mortality as a proxy indicator of a country’s living conditions.
The chart shows our long-run data on child mortality, which allows you to see how child mortality has changed in countries around the world.
Share of population living in extreme poverty World Bank
What share of the population is living in extreme poverty.
The UN sets the “International Poverty Line” as a worldwide comparable definition for extreme poverty. Living in extreme poverty is currently defined as living on less than $2.15 per day. This indicator, published by the World Bank, has successfully drawn attention to the terrible depths of poverty of the poorest people in the world.
Two centuries ago, the majority of the world’s population was extremely poor. Back then, it was widely believed that widespread poverty was inevitable. This turned out to be wrong. Economic growth is possible and makes it possible for entire societies to leave the deep poverty of the past behind. Whether or not countries are leaving the worst poverty behind can be monitored by relying on this indicator.
Life expectancy at birth Long-run estimates collated from multiple sources by Our World in Data
How has people’s life expectancy changed over time.
Across the world, people are living longer. In 1900, the global average life expectancy of a newborn was 32 years. By 2021, this had more than doubled to 71 years.
Big improvements were achieved by countries around the world . The chart shows that life expectancy has more than doubled in every region of the world. This improvement is not only due to declining child mortality; life expectancy increased at all ages .
This visualization shows long-run estimates of life expectancy brought together by our team from several different data sources. It also shows that the COVID-19 pandemic led to reduced life expectancy worldwide.
Per capita CO₂ emissions Long-run estimates from the Global Carbon Budget
How have co₂ emissions per capita changed.
The main source of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions is the burning of fossil fuels. It is the primary greenhouse gas causing climate change .
Globally, CO 2 emissions have remained at just below 5 tonnes per person for over a decade. Between countries, however, there are large differences, and while emissions are rapidly increasing in some countries, they are rapidly falling in others.
The source for this CO 2 data is the Global Carbon Budget, a dataset we update yearly as soon as it is published. In addition to these production-based emissions, they publish consumption-based emissions for the last three decades, which can be viewed in our Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data Explorer .
GDP per capita Long-run estimates from the Maddison Project Database
How do average incomes compare between countries around the world.
GDP per capita is a very comprehensive measure of people’s average income . This indicator reveals how large the inequality between people in different countries is. In the poorest countries, people live on less than $1,000 per year, while in rich countries, the average income is more than 50 times higher.
The data shown is sourced from the Maddison Project Database. Drawing together the careful work of hundreds of economic historians, the particular value of this data lies in the historical coverage it provides. This data makes clear that the vast majority of people in all countries were poor in the past. It allows us to understand when and how the economic growth that made it possible to leave the deep poverty of the past behind was achieved.
Share of people that are undernourished FAO
What share of the population is suffering from hunger.
Hunger has been a severe problem for most of humanity throughout history. Growing enough food to feed one’s family was a constant struggle in daily life. Food shortages, malnutrition, and famines were common around the world.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization publishes global data on undernourishment, defined as not consuming enough calories to maintain a normal, active, healthy life. These minimum requirements vary by a person’s sex, weight, height, and activity levels. This is considered in these national and global estimates.
The world has made much progress in reducing global hunger in recent decades. But we are still far away from an end to hunger, as this indicator shows. Tragically, nearly one in ten people still do not get enough food to eat and in recent years — especially during the pandemic — hunger levels have increased.
Literacy rate Long-run estimates collated from multiple sources by Our World in Data
When has literacy become a widespread skill.
Literacy is a foundational skill. Children need to learn to read so that they can read to learn. When we fail to teach this foundational skill, people have fewer opportunities to lead the rich and interesting lives that a good education offers.
The historical data shows that only a very small share of the population, a tiny elite, was able to read and write. Over the course of the last few generations, literacy levels increased, but it remains an important challenge for our time to provide this foundational skill to all.
At Our World in Data, we investigated the strengths and shortcomings of the available data on literacy. Based on this work, our team brought together the long-run data shown in the chart by combining several different sources, including the World Bank, the CIA Factbook, and a range of research publications.
Share of the population with access to electricity World Bank
Where do people lack access to even the most basic electricity supply.
Light at night makes it possible to get together after sunset; mobile phones allow us to stay in touch with those far away; the refrigeration of food reduces food waste; and household appliances free up time from household chores. Access to electricity improves people’s living conditions in many ways.
The World Bank data on the world map captures whether people have access to the most basic electricity supply — just enough to provide basic lighting and charge a phone or power a radio for 4 hours per day.
It shows that, especially in several African countries, a large share of the population lacks the benefits that basic electricity offers. No radio and no light at night.
Data explorers
Interactive visualization tools to explore a wide range of related indicators.
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Population and Demographic Change
- Population Change:
- Age Structure
- Gender Ratio
- Births and Deaths:
- Life Expectancy
- Child and Infant Mortality
- Fertility Rate
- Geography of the World Population:
- Urbanization
- Health Risks:
- Lead Pollution
- Alcohol Consumption
- Opioids, Cocaine, Cannabis, and Other Illicit Drugs
- Air Pollution
- Outdoor Air Pollution
- Indoor Air Pollution
- Infectious Diseases:
- Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)
- Mpox (monkeypox)
- Diarrheal Diseases
- Tuberculosis
- Health Institutions and Interventions:
- Vaccination
- Healthcare Spending
- Life and Death:
- Causes of Death
- Mental Health
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Burden of Disease
- Maternal Mortality
Energy and Environment
- Energy Systems:
- Access to Energy
- Fossil Fuels
- Renewable Energy
- Nuclear Energy
- Waste and Pollution:
- Climate and Air:
- CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Climate Change
- Ozone Layer
- Clean Water and Sanitation
- Clean Water
- Water Use and Stress
- Environment and Ecosystems:
- Natural Disasters
- Environmental Impacts of Food Production
- Animal Welfare
- Forests and Deforestation
Food and Agriculture
- Hunger and Undernourishment
- Food Supply
- Food Prices
- Diet Compositions
- Human Height
- Micronutrient Deficiency
- Food Production:
- Agricultural Production
- Crop Yields
- Meat and Dairy Production
- Farm Size and Productivity
- Agricultural Inputs:
- Fertilizers
- Employment in Agriculture
Poverty and Economic Development
- Public Sector:
- State Capacity
- Government Spending
- Education Spending
- Military Personnel and Spending
- Poverty and Prosperity:
- Economic Inequality
- Economic Growth
- Economic Inequality by Gender
- Child Labor
- Working Hours
- Women’s Employment
- Global Connections:
- Trade and Globalization
Education and Knowledge
- Global Education
- Research and Development
Innovation and Technological Change
- Artificial Intelligence
- Space Exploration and Satellites
- Technological Change
Living Conditions, Community, and Wellbeing
- Housing and Infrastructure:
- Light at Night
- Homelessness
- Relationships:
- Marriages and Divorces
- Loneliness and Social Connections
- Happiness and Wellbeing:
- Human Development Index (HDI)
- Happiness and Life Satisfaction
Human Rights and Democracy
- Human Rights
- Women’s Rights
- LGBT+ Rights
- Violence Against Children and Children’s Rights
Violence and War
- Nuclear Weapons
- Biological and Chemical Weapons
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