Latest

April 20

Article

Wild mammals have declined by 85% since the rise of humans, but there is a possible future where they flourish

Wild mammal biomass has declined by 85% since the rise of humans. But we can turn things around by reducing the amount of land we use for agriculture.

Hannah Ritchie

March 19

Article

What are the carbon opportunity costs of our food?

What are the carbon opportunity costs of our diet? How much carbon could we store by regrowing forests and wild habitats on existing farmland?

Hannah Ritchie

March 18

Article

How much of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food?

Estimates of food emissions can range from one-quarter to one-third. Where do these differences come from?

Hannah Ritchie

March 15

Article

How much economic growth is necessary to reduce global poverty substantially?

We study the data on today's global inequality to calculate the minimum aggregate growth that is required to reduce global poverty substantially.

Max Roser

March 05

Article

Emerging COVID-19 success story: Vietnam's commitment to containment

Vietnam is one country which has responded well to the Coronavirus pandemic. How did they do so? In-country experts provide key insights.

Guest Authors

March 05

Article

Global poverty in an unequal world: Who is considered poor in a rich country? And what does this mean for our understanding of global poverty?

What would global poverty look like if we rely on the notions of poverty in countries like Denmark, the US, or Germany? And why does this matter?

Max Roser

March 04

Article

If the world adopted a plant-based diet, we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares

We could reduce the amount of land used for grazing and croplands used to grow animal feed.

Hannah Ritchie

March 01

Article

Do rich countries import deforestation from overseas?

Rich countries import foods produced on deforested land in the tropics. How much deforestation do they import?

Hannah Ritchie

February 22

Article

The economies that are home to the poorest billions of people need to grow if we want global poverty to decline substantially

The majority of the world today is poor: 85% of the world live on less than $30 per day. We need economic growth to alleviate global poverty.

Max Roser

February 19

Article

Global deforestation peaked in the 1980s. Can we bring it to an end?

There was a marked acceleration in deforestation in the 20th century. But, global deforestation peaked in the 1980s. Since then, it has slowed.

Hannah Ritchie

February 09

Article

The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end to deforestation is possible

Over the last 10,000 years, the world has lost one-third of its forests. An area twice the size of the United States. Half occurred in the last century.

Hannah Ritchie

January 14

Article

Do we only have 60 harvests left?

Claims that the world has only 100, 60, or even 30 years of harvests left often hit the headlines. These claims are overblown, but soil erosion is a problem and we can do something about it.

Hannah Ritchie

January 08

Article

Our World in Data is now tracking Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations across the world

We are building a global dataset on COVID-19 Vaccinations. Explore the latest data for all countries.

Edouard Mathieu, Hannah Ritchie, and Max Roser

January 06

Article

How are working hours measured and what can we learn from the data?

The primary way to measure working hours is with surveys, but the data can have limitations that are important to understand.

Charlie Giattino and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina

December 21

Article

Do workers in richer countries work longer hours?

Workers in richer countries tend to work fewer hours than those in poorer countries.

Charlie Giattino and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina

December 16

Article

Are we working more than ever?

Working hours for the average worker have decreased dramatically over the last 150 years.

Charlie Giattino and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina

December 10

Article

The world’s energy problem

The world faces two energy problems: most of our energy still produces greenhouse gas emissions, and hundreds of millions lack access to energy.

Max Roser

December 01

Article

Why did renewables become so cheap so fast?

In most places, power from new renewables is now cheaper than new fossil fuels.

Max Roser

November 30

Article

Our World in Data switches to Johns Hopkins University as our main data source for COVID-19 cases and deaths

To continue providing daily updates on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Our World in Data has switched from ECDC to Johns Hopkins University as our data source for confirmed cases and deaths.

Hannah Ritchie

November 26

Article

Breaking out of the Malthusian trap: How pandemics allow us to understand why our ancestors were stuck in poverty

The Industrial Revolution ended the Malthusian trap in which incomes were determined by the size of the population — making it possible for a country to leave abject poverty behind.

Max Roser

November 13

Article

Why do COVID-19 deaths in Sweden's official data always appear to decrease?

There are two ways that COVID-19 deaths can be presented over time: by the date of death, or the date on which the death is reported. The data for Sweden is shown by date of death – this means the most recent points should be treated as incomplete.

Edouard Mathieu