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?
August 10
Article
Latest
Our latest articles, data updates, and announcements
July 27
Article
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.
July 23
Article
Our World in Data for teaching – what we are learning from your feedback
July 10
Article
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.
June 08
Article
How is literacy measured?
An overview of how literacy is defined, and how estimates compare to other measures of educational achievement.
April 22
Article
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?
March 26
Article
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.
March 25
Article
Shrink emissions, not the economy
Decoupling emissions from the economy is possible.
March 19
Article
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.
January 31
Article
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.
January 25
Article
Definitions of world regions
Which countries make up the world regions commonly used in our charts?
November 22
Article
A sense of units and scale for electrical energy production and consumption
How does the electricity output of different sources compare?
November 18
Article
How new vaccines can help with our antibiotic dependence
New vaccination technology could reduce our reliance on antibiotics.
November 07
Article
How many people does synthetic fertilizer feed?
October 30
Article
Are emerging economies deindustrializing too quickly?
As today’s developed countries grew richer, they experienced a process of “structural transformation”. Are developing countries following a similar process?
October 19
Article
Is organic really better for the environment than conventional agriculture?
Depending on the measure, organic farming can sometimes have higher environmental impacts than conventional farming.
October 03
Article
How much of the world’s land would we need in order to feed the global population with the average diet of a given country?
There are large differences in the land of different diets, mostly depending on how much meat people eat.
September 29
Article
Historical poverty reductions: more than a story about “free-market capitalism”
The reduction of poverty has also happened because public spending and redistribution have increased significantly.
September 17
Article
Income inequality and happiness inequality: a tale of two trends
How could it be that happiness inequality falls with rising income inequality?
September 11
Article
Collective pessimism and our inability to guess the happiness of others
We tend to underestimate the average happiness of people around us. One possible explanation is that we are positive about ourselves, but negative about those we don't know.
August 28
Article
Life expectancy: what does this actually mean?
How is life expectancy calculated, and what does it mean? What’s the difference between period and cohort life expectancy?