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There are few experiences, if any, that are more painful for a parent than losing a child.

In the past, child deaths were much more common than they are today. But even when these deaths were not unusual, historical diary entries show us that most parents still found them heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, in many countries today, a large share of parents still experience the loss of a child. The map here shows the share of mothers who lost a child before they reached the age of five.

In most of Europe and North America, this share is less than 1%. But in some of the world’s poorest countries — like Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic — more than one in three mothers have experienced this tragedy.

These figures come from a research article by Emily Smith-Greenaway and colleagues, based on reported or estimated data from 2010 to 2018 for mothers aged 20 to 44.

Read my colleague Max Roser’s article for more historical context around this data →

Global livestock numbers — tracked by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization since 1961 — have surged, with particularly large increases in the number of chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, and cows.

For many land animals, life is short and painful. Recent estimates indicate that globally, most animals are raised on factory farms. In the US, where better data and research are available, 99% of livestock is factory-farmed.

Explore many more interactive charts and articles on animal welfare →

To decarbonize road transport, the world must move away from petrol and diesel cars and towards electric vehicles and other forms of low-carbon transport.

This transition has already started. In fact, global sales of combustion engine cars are well past the peak and are now falling.

As you can see in the chart, global sales peaked in 2018. This is calculated based on data from the International Energy Agency. Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates this peak occurred one year earlier, in 2017.

Sales of electric cars, on the other hand, are growing quickly.

Explore more data on electric car sales across the world →

Child mortality in Asia has fallen sharply. The chart shows nine countries that have reduced child mortality rates by more than half since 2000. This means millions more children surviving through the crucial early years of life.

In India, for example, child mortality fell from 9% to 3%. China saw a similar decrease from 4% to just 1%. Key reasons for these gains include improved nutrition, clean water, sanitation, vaccinations, and poverty reduction.

However, even with these improvements, rates of 1–6% still reflect hundreds of thousands of young lives lost each year in these countries.

This is a story of remarkable progress — but one that’s not yet finished.

Explore child mortality data for more countries →

It’s difficult to quantify animal suffering in a single number, but one metric often used to measure living conditions is the number of animals raised on “factory farms”.

Factory farms are defined as “concentrated animal feeding operations” where many animals are held in an intensive feeding operation for more than 45 days.

99% of livestock in the United States is factory-farmed. This latest estimate comes from the Sentience Institute and is based on definitions and data from the US Environment Protection Agency.

The chart shows the share of different forms of livestock that are factory-farmed. More than 98% of chickens, turkeys, hens, pigs, and farmed fish are factory-farmed. Cows are a bit less likely to be factory-farmed, but three-quarters still spend much of their lives in these conditions.

Read more about factory farming, including estimates of how much livestock globally is factory-farmed →

What’s the most common season for babies to be born?

In many European countries, it’s late summer or autumn. Births are 5% to 10% more common in these months than others.

But this seasonal pattern used to be different. The chart shows the most common month for births each year. We’ve focused on France, which has data since the 1860s.

As you can see, spring was the most common season for births then. The pattern was temporarily disrupted during the two World Wars but continued until the late 20th century. Then, births shifted to later in the year, with late summer and autumn becoming more popular.

This shift also occurred in many other European countries and North America.

Explore the most common birth month around the world →

Over the last 60 years, the 32 high-income countries in the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) steadily increased the foreign aid they sent abroad. In total, aid rose from $39 billion to $213 billion, adjusted for inflation.

But while aid has grown in dollar terms, it has shrunk as a share of national income. Between 1960 and 2000, foreign aid as a percentage of national income fell sharply from 0.49% to 0.21%. Since then, it has recovered slightly to 0.37% but remains far below its 1960 level.

As a result, only five countries currently meet the UN’s target of dedicating at least 0.7% of their national income to foreign aid.

Explore foreign aid given as a share of national income by all countries →

The share of births that are twins has changed over time.

The chart shows data for France, Canada, the United States, and England & Wales in the Human Multiple Births Database.

As you can see, twin births have risen dramatically since the 1980s.

One reason is the use of reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), which have made it possible for many more couples to conceive. During procedures like IVF, multiple eggs can be used at the same time to maximize the chances of a successful pregnancy, which can lead to twin births.

Another reason for the rise in twin births is that the average age of women at childbirth has risen. Older women are more likely to have twin births, even without using reproductive technologies.

Twin births are a chance event, but data shows they can also be influenced by societal changes and reproductive technologies.

Explore trends in twin births for other countries →

To mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, the world needs to quickly transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources such as solar power.

The chart shows how much this transition has accelerated in the last two decades.

In 2004, it took the world about a year to add one gigawatt of solar power capacity. By 2023, the same amount was added, on average, every single day.

For reference, a gigawatt of solar is enough to power approximately 200,000 homes in the US.

Much of this growth has been driven by China, which by 2023 accounted for about 43% of the cumulative installed capacity worldwide.

A big reason for this acceleration has been a large decrease in the price of solar panels. Since 2001, the price has dropped by about 95%, from $6.21 to $0.31 per watt.

Learn more about why renewables like solar became so cheap so fast →

Religion means less to people in some English-speaking countries than it did 30 years ago.

The chart shows a clear downward trend in the share of people who see religion as important in their lives. This is based on surveys across the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, from 1993 to 2022.

The United States stands out as the country with the highest percentage of people who consider religion important, though this has declined from 79% to 61%. The shift was even sharper in Canada, falling from 61% to 35%.

Religion was already less important to people in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand but in all three countries, this share dropped by more than a quarter.

Explore this data on the importance of religion for many more countries →

The “golden age of antibiotics” lasted from the early 1940s to the late 1960s. It was a period of rapid innovation that transformed medicine. As highlighted in this chart, nearly two-thirds of all antibiotic drug classes were introduced during this period.

Scientists explored natural sources — such as fungi and bacteria — and synthetic sources.

This led to breakthroughs in antibiotics derived from soil-dwelling bacteria, such as streptomycin, tetracyclines, and macrolides, and the mass production of penicillin, which Alexander Fleming discovered in 1928.

However, progress slowed after the 1970s as pharmaceutical companies shifted their focus to chronic diseases. Today, there is a renewed need for innovation to tackle antibiotic resistance.

Read my article on the golden age of antibiotics and how we can spark a new one →

We can expect to live more than twice as long as our ancestors in 1900.

As the chart shows, global average life expectancy was just 32 years at the beginning of the 20th century.

This was a short life by today’s standards: in 2023, the average life expectancy had increased to 73 years. That’s 41 years longer.

This remarkable increase is due to improved living standards, like better nutrition and sanitation, and advances in healthcare, such as antibiotics and vaccines.

While large declines in child mortality have been crucial, they have not been the only reason for the increase in life expectancy; it has increased across all ages.

Read more in our article “Twice as long – life expectancy around the world” →

Lithium is a critical component in many industries, including pharmaceuticals, optics, ceramics, and glass. But it’s best known for its use in batteries. Most rechargeable batteries in mobile phones, laptops, and consumer electronics are made from lithium-ion chemistries.

It’s also receiving increasing attention as a critical mineral in batteries for electric cars and storage for renewable energy.

Just a handful of countries supply the world’s lithium. In the chart, you can see each country’s share of global mined production in 2023. Australia produced almost half. Combined with China, Chile, and Argentina, these four countries produced over 90% of the total.

Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia form the so-called “lithium triangle”, which are large lithium deposits that span across these three countries. While Bolivia has huge lithium resources, it has produced very little so far.

This data comes from the United States Geological Survey.

Explore which countries produce other critical minerals in our data explorer →

Internet access has grown rapidly over the last few decades. It lets us connect with people across countries and continents, helps students learn and apply for jobs, and is even the primary mode of banking in some parts of the world.

But having access to fast internet also matters. This is also changing quickly.

In 2015, less than half — 44% — of the world population was in the range of a 4G network. That figure is now 90%. In the chart, you can see that this has increased quickly across many regions. This data comes from the International Telecommunication Union.

Note that being in the range of a 4G network doesn’t mean that someone is using it. If people don’t have a mobile, computer, or service to connect, they might be in the range of a network but not online.

Explore more charts on technological change across the world →

Women’s representation in national politics has increased dramatically in the last century.

But men still hold more parliamentary seats in almost every country. There are three exceptions: Cuba, Nicaragua, and Rwanda.

You can see this in the map. Most countries are in blue, meaning they have a higher share of men; in many countries, they make up more than 75% of the seats (shown in darker blue).

Look closely enough, and you can see the three countries in red that have more women.

This data comes from V-Dem and is based on parliamentary seats in 2023.

Explore how the share of women in parliament has changed in other countries →

America’s most popular type of meat is chicken. In Argentina, chicken is tied with beef. And in Japan, it’s fish and seafood.

There are large differences in the popularity of meat types across the world.

In the chart above, you can see the share of supply that comes from different types of meat: poultry, beef, pork, goat, and seafood. I’ve picked just a selection of countries that highlight some of the variation across the world.

Of course, countries also eat very different amounts of meat; this chart focuses on the relative amounts in national diets.

This data comes from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Explore the most popular types of meat in your country in the global dataset →

Global emissions of local air pollutants have probably passed their peak.

The chart shows estimates of global emissions of pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (which causes acid rain), nitrogen oxides, and black and organic carbon.

These pollutants are harmful to human health and can also damage ecosystems.

It looks like emissions have peaked for almost all of these pollutants. Global air pollution is now falling, and we can save many lives by accelerating this decline.

The exception is ammonia, which is mainly produced by agriculture. Its emissions are still rising.

These estimates come from the Community Emissions Data System (CEDS).

Air pollution has not peaked everywhere in the world — explore the data for your country →