The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better. All three statements are true at the same time. Understanding this is key to solving big global problems. At OWID, we believe data & research can help us understand both the problems we face & the

Suicide rates have declined in many countries over decades; read our insight:

Suicide rates in Sri Lanka have fallen by almost two-thirds since the late 1990s—. In the late 1990s, Sri Lanka had one of the highest suicide rates in the world: three times the global average and four times the rate in countries like the United States or the United Kingdom.

@S_VanTeutem Visit the feed of all of our Data Insights:

@S_VanTeutem Explore more data on access to electricity:

A vast majority of people still lack access to electricity in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa—. (This Data Insight was written by @S_VanTeutem.). How many hours have you used electricity today?. For me, it’s probably all of them — from charging my phone overnight to working on my

Read more on how climate targets are measured, and how we’ll know when we pass the 1.5 °C target, in the article from Richard Betts and others: “Approaching 1.5 °C: how will we know we’ve reached this crucial warming mark?”

Human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are the main drivers of recent climate change. In the chart, we see the global average temperature relative to a baseline, which is the average between 1861 and 1890. This gives us an estimate of the temperature

Explore more data and research on smoking on our dedicated page:

Smoking increases the risk of death from many causes—. Most of us have heard that smoking damages the lungs. The chart drives this home: in the US, men who smoke are around 21 times more likely to die from lung cancer than men who have never smoked. But the damage doesn’t stop

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🎧 Our very own Saloni Dattani (@salonium) just launched her own podcast!. The podcast, “Hard Drugs”, is about medical innovation: how to speed it up, how to scale it up, and how to make sure lifesaving tools reach the people who need them the most. It's co-hosted by Jacob.

@_HannahRitchie Read the new article:

✍️ New article: The end of tuberculosis that wasn’t. In the 1980s, many thought tuberculosis (TB) was on the path to elimination. In reality, more were dying from the disease than ever. In a new article, @_HannahRitchie and Fiona Spooner cover the reality of tuberculosis in the

Read more about the role that vaccines have played in reducing child mortality:

Child mortality in Malawi has fallen by more than 80% since 1990—. In 1990, one in four newborns in Malawi died before their fifth birthday. At that time, the average number of births per woman was almost seven. This meant that many families experienced the tragedy of losing a

While estimates can vary across data sources, for Italy, they show strong agreement:

Homicide rates in Italy have dropped by 80% since 1990—. Italy has become much safer over the last thirty years. In the early 1990s, there were around 3 homicides per 100,000 people every year. That was one of the highest rates in Europe. Since then, rates have fallen by more

Read more about money sent home by migrants:

Transfer fees for money sent home by international migrants were nearly as high as US foreign aid in 2023—. If you live in the same country as your family, you don’t usually have to pay a fee when you send them money. International migrants face a harsher reality: they pay hefty

For billions of people, it can mean hours spent collecting water. For almost a million, it means dying from disease. In a new article, @_HannahRitchie details what it’s like for people without access to safe drinking water: