Daily Data Insights
Bite-sized insights on how the world is changing, published every weekday.
November 08, 2024
British people see immigration as a major concern for the country, but not in their own lives
Ipsos surveyed British people about the most critical issues facing the country and the most important issues they face personally.
The chart shows the answers across nine different issues. Immigration stands out for having the largest difference between national and personal concerns. 32% see it as a top issue for Britain, but only 4% feel it is one of the most important issues they face personally.
For other topics like healthcare and crime, people also show more concern for Britain than themselves, but the difference is much smaller.
November 07, 2024
When asked if most people can be trusted, responses vary significantly around the world
For decades, the World Values Survey and European Values Study projects have examined people’s values through their surveys. One of the questions on trust asks: “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?”
This chart shows the share of respondents who answered “most people can be trusted” across different countries.
As you can see, reported trust in others varies widely from country to country. In the Nordic nations, over 60% of respondents believe most people can be trusted, while in France and Italy, this figure drops to around 26%. At the lower end, as few as 5% of people in countries like Colombia and Peru express trust in others.
It’s worth noting that interpretations of survey-based “trust” measures are complex: what people mean when they answer this question could reflect various ideas about trust, personal experiences, or cultural attitudes toward trustworthiness.
November 06, 2024
Manufacturing accounts for a relatively small and declining share of total employment in rich countries
The decline in manufacturing jobs — such as those in factories or industrial plants — often draws significant attention in political debates and media reports in the US, especially when tied to discussions about trade policies, globalization, or job losses in key industries.
This focus can sometimes overshadow that manufacturing jobs are already a relatively small part of the labor market. In the US, for example, they account for less than 10% of total employment.
The chart shows the evolution of manufacturing as a proportion of total employment in the US and five other rich countries, using estimates compiled by the UN.
Across all countries, manufacturing employment has declined. In the US, it fell from 13% in 2000 to just below 10% in 2022. Even in Germany, where it is the highest among this group, manufacturing is now down to less than 20%.
Explore the data on the share of manufacturing jobs in other countries →
November 05, 2024
China is the largest contributor to global patent applications, substantially ahead of other countries
China’s patent applications have grown rapidly in recent decades, as shown in the chart. Chinese applications surpassed US applications in 2010, reaching over 1.4 million in 2021. According to this data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China’s applications accounted for more than half of the global total in 2021.
In contrast, patent applications in the US have seen little growth in recent years, while in Japan, filings have steadily declined since 2000.
Innovations are patented due to economic incentives. A patent protects the invention to the owner for a limited period, often 20 years. This is why policymakers and researchers frequently compare annual patent filings across countries — new patents are considered a proxy for the pace of innovation.
However, patents are just one aspect of innovation. A country’s innovation system is shaped by a complex network of research, development, and commercialization, and patent applications are just one part of this broader process.
November 04, 2024
Most immigrants in high-income countries have legal status
Immigrants without legal status are only a small fraction of the total immigrant population in most rich countries.
For example, just 7% of immigrants in the United Kingdom lack legal status. It’s 4% in Germany and less than 2% in the Netherlands. The United States stands out, with 22% of its immigrant population lacking legal status — that’s about one in five.
The estimates of immigrants without legal status come from the Measuring Irregular Migration (MIrreM) project and are for one specific year between 2017 and 2023. The total immigrant numbers are from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2020).
November 01, 2024
One-third of the world’s assessed fish stocks are overexploited
Fish stocks have a “maximum sustainable yield” — this is the point at which you can catch the largest amount of fish without affecting their total population over the long term. In other words, it means catching as many fish as possible without shrinking the population.
A fish is defined as “overexploited” if it is caught faster than the maximum sustainable yield.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that around one-third of the world’s assessed fish stocks are overexploited. This chart shows that this share has increased over time.
Many regions have formal assessments of fish stocks and catch rates to provide updated estimates of overfishing. However, many fish stocks across Africa, Asia, and South America are not frequently and rigorously assessed. To get global estimates, the UN FAO combines these formal assessments with expert opinion and extrapolations based on what national and regional-level data is available.
The UN FAO’s report — The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 — provides more detailed breakdowns of which species are overexploited or fished sustainably.
October 31, 2024
The UK spends about £74 per person on overseas aid
When asked where public spending should be reduced most, around 60% of people in the UK suggest cutting foreign aid.
However, people overestimate how much the UK spends on aid: last year’s UK Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses show that overseas aid amounted to £5.1 billion — just about 74 pounds per person.
As the chart shows, this is a tiny part of public spending, making up only 0.5% of the total budget.
To put this in perspective, the UK spends much more on other areas: over eight times as much on public order and safety, ten times more on defense, and forty times more on each of the two biggest expenses: health and welfare.
Spending is not much higher if we also consider funds dedicated to supporting refugees in the UK itself.
This situation is not specific to 2023: the UK’s foreign aid spending has been at similar levels for decades and is in line with what other wealthy countries spend. Compared to the size of its budget and economy, foreign aid is a relatively small expense.
Explore spending on foreign aid in the UK and other countries →
October 30, 2024
Different definitions of homelessness make international comparisons difficult
Homelessness is defined differently around the world, making it difficult to compare the issue across countries.
The map shows the forms of homelessness included in country statistics, as recorded by the Institute of Global Homelessness.
Sources distinguish three broad forms of homelessness: people with no accommodation who sleep in the streets or public spaces; people in temporary accommodation, such as emergency shelters; and people in severely inadequate housing, such as tents or slums.
Country statistics vary in which forms they include, with some countries focusing on just one type while others cover multiple combinations. Many sources do not provide enough details to know which forms of homelessness they refer to.
Despite these challenges, the data on homelessness has recently improved. The Institute of Global Homelessness has collected data on the completeness of national statistics, and the OECD has worked on making the statistics of their members comparable by using the same definitions of homelessness across them.
October 29, 2024
Without migration, the population of high-income countries would shrink
In recent years, migration has prevented population decline among high-income countries.
The World Bank defines high-income countries as those with a gross national income (GNI) per capita of over $14,000 in 2023. It includes countries like the United States, Chile, and Poland.
The chart shows annual population growth with and without migration in these countries.
The green line, which includes migration, shows that populations in high-income countries are still growing.
What would this have looked like without migration? The blue line gives you the answer — it shows the annual population growth only considering births and deaths in the country. It has been falling for decades and went negative in 2020.
Note that these figures apply to high-income countries as a group; in some countries, such as Italy or Japan, the total population is shrinking, even when considering migration. This data comes from the World Population Prospects dataset published by the United Nations.
October 28, 2024
Life expectancy is returning to pre-pandemic levels
Life expectancy at birth dropped significantly across the world in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, rates are now returning to pre-pandemic levels. The chart shows this rebound, based on the latest estimates from the UN’s World Population Prospects.
Global life expectancy in 2022 matched the 2019 figure at 72.6 years. And it increased again in 2023, to 73.2 years.
Explore more insights from the latest revision of the UN’s population statistics →
October 25, 2024
Japan closed nearly all of its nuclear plants after Fukushima, but some are coming back online
Japan closed down most of its nuclear plants after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011, and nuclear production dropped dramatically.
You can see this in the chart above, which shows the electricity mix of Japan since 1985. It’s based on data from the Energy Institute.
Fossil fuel plants — notably coal — were ramped up to keep the lights on. But some nuclear plants have come back online, which is why you see nuclear production start to rise again.
Read our article on the death toll of the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters →
October 24, 2024
Many people overestimate the percentage of immigrants in their country
People tend to think there are more immigrants in their country than there really are.
In the United States, for example, the average person believes that 33% of people were not born there. However, official estimates from government agencies show that the figure is just 15% — less than half as many.
In Japan, people guess that 10% of the population are immigrants, but the accurate figure is around 2%. For every 5 immigrants people think exist, there is only one in reality.
As the chart shows, this mismatch is common everywhere. The data comes from the 2023 Ipsos Perils of Perception report.
October 23, 2024
Haiti and Dominican Republic: one island, two diverging economies
Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two Caribbean countries that share the same island, Hispaniola. However, despite sharing the same island, the two nations have developed very differently in recent decades. In 1990, Dominicans had twice the GDP per capita of Haitians. 32 years later, they are seven times richer than Haitians.
The chart shows both trajectories. While the Dominican Republic experienced sustained growth during the three decades, Haiti’s GDP per capita has barely grown and, at times, even slightly decreased. To allow for comparisons, all incomes are shown in international dollars, which account for differences in cost of living across countries.
Today, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas.
October 22, 2024
British women are having fewer children in their twenties, more in their thirties
At what age do women have children?
The chart shows the number of births in the United Kingdom since 1950, broken down by the mother's age. This is based on estimates from the latest UN World Population Prospects report.
You can see that, over time, fewer children are born to women in their teens and twenties. This number has been falling since the 1960s.
Instead, we see a rise in the number of births to women in their thirties.
October 21, 2024
Less than 4% of the world's population are international migrants
The vast majority of people in the world — over 96% — live in the country where they were born. Only a small minority are international migrants.
International migrants are people who have lived in a country other than where they were born for more than one year. In contrast, natives live in the country where they were born.
Since 1990, the absolute number of international migrants has risen sharply, but their share of the global population has remained relatively unchanged due to population growth.
This data comes from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).
October 18, 2024
Global wildfire burn has declined in the last 20 years due to less shrub and savanna burning
The average area burned by wildfires each year has fallen in the last few decades. This is due mainly to changes in land practices, including the intensification of agriculture and less savanna burning.
This chart shows the estimated area burnt by wildfires each year, broken down by land cover type. This data comes from the Global Wildfire Information System.
The area of shrublands and savannas burned each year has decreased since the early 2000s, while the area of forest burned has remained very similar.
Much of this decline has occurred in Africa and, to a lesser extent, in Oceania.
This doesn't mean that weather-related risks of wildfires have declined: warmer and drier conditions increase these risks. And despite a global reduction, countries can experience very large and anomalous years. Last year’s large burn in Canada is a clear example.
This year also looks to be on-track to be the largest wildfire year this century.
October 17, 2024
Diarrheal diseases are among the most common causes of death, especially in children
In 2021, 1.2 million people died from diarrheal diseases. Around 340,000 of these deaths were in children under five years old. This makes diarrheal diseases one of the leading causes of death among people of all ages, but also children specifically.
These estimates come from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease study.
Deaths from diarrheal diseases have fallen a lot in recent decades as a result of public health interventions. But more progress is possible.
Diarrheal deaths are preventable because they are primarily caused by pathogens, whose spread can be easily controlled. By increasing global access to clean water and sanitation, oral rehydration therapy, and vaccination, this major cause of death can be reduced substantially.
Explore our full page on diarrheal diseases, with more writing and over 40 interactive charts →
October 16, 2024
Healthy diets remain unaffordable for the majority in many countries
Around one in three people worldwide — that’s 2.8 billion — could not afford a healthy diet in 2022. This is based on the most recent estimates from the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
A “healthy diet” is defined as one that follows nutritional guidelines, making sure that someone has enough variety to meet all of their dietary needs. It is considered unaffordable when the lowest possible cost of the diet, along with essentials like housing and transportation, is higher than what someone earns each day.
In low- to middle-income countries like India or Pakistan and much of Sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the population struggles to afford a healthy diet, with rates exceeding 90% in the poorest.
October 15, 2024
Guyana’s oil-driven economy has had the largest GDP per capita growth in the world in recent years
Guyana, a small country in South America, has seen the fastest growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world over the past decade.
This is illustrated in the chart, which shows GDP per capita for Guyana and the World, based on estimates from the World Bank.
The data is adjusted for inflation, so Guyana’s sharp growth is not due to price changes over time.
A large and sudden expansion in oil production has driven most of this growth. In 2020, Guyana began extracting oil. From 2020 to 2023, the country’s oil production grew 425%, making it a key contributor to global crude oil supply growth.
Over this period, Guyana’s GDP per capita rose from below the global average to well above it.
Read more about economic development and oil production →
October 14, 2024
On average, Americans spend about the same amount of money on restaurants and cafes as on food at home
On average, Americans spend about the same amount on food consumed at home as they did in the 1950s. But they spend a lot more in restaurants, cafes, and at work.
The chart shows the average amount of money spent on food, at home and away from home in the United States. This is based on data from the USDA Economic Research Service. It’s adjusted for inflation over time.
Today, the amount spent on food away from home is about the same as what is spent on food at home.