Verified facts about the world
33 sourced numbers on how life on Earth is really changing. Each links to its origin: Our World in Data, the WHO, the World Bank and more.
Child mortality (under 5)
37 per 1,000
−60% since 1990
Extreme poverty worldwide
10.4%
−76% since 1990
Life expectancy
73 years
+41 years since 1900
Cost of solar electricity
0.043 $/kWh
−90% since 2010
Deaths from smallpox
0 (eradicated 1980)
≈2M/year in the 1960s → 0
Internet access
74%
from <1% in 1995 to 74% in 2025
Maternal mortality
197 per 100,000
−40% since 2000
Adult literacy
88%
+13 pts since 1990
Polio (wild virus)
≈40 cases (2025)
−99.9% since 1988
Access to electricity
92%
+14 pts since 2000
DTP3 vaccine coverage
84%
from 20% (1980) to 84%
Safe drinking water at home
74%
+2.2B people since 2000
Guinea worm disease
10 cases (2025, provisional)
from ≈3.5M in 1986
Share of electricity from solar and wind
13.4%
from 0.2% in 2000
Deaths from natural disasters
around 10× lower than a century ago
−90%+ since the 1920s
Ozone-depleting substances
−99%
layer recovery by ~2066
Chronic hunger worldwide
8.2%
−4.5 pts since 2000
Basic sanitation access
82.2%
+27 pts since 2000
Access to clean cooking
74.4%
+25 pts since 2000
Children in child labour
7.8%
−8.2 pts since 2000
Years of schooling (adults)
8.8 years
+2.9 years since 1990
Malaria death rate
9.6 per 100,000
−34% since 2000
Tuberculosis death rate
14.7 per 100,000
−69% since 2000
HIV/AIDS death rate
9.9 per 100,000
−63% from 2000s peak
Neonatal mortality (first 28 days)
17 per 1,000
−53% since 1990
Child stunting (under 5)
23.2%
−9.9 pts since 2000
New HIV infections
1.2 million (2025)
−65% from 1995 peak
Tobacco use among adults
20.9%
−11.8 pts since 2000
Road traffic death rate
15 per 100,000
−16% since 2010
Female labor force participation
55.1%
56% in 1990 → 55.1% in 2024
Share of new car sales that are electric
25%
from 2% in 2018 to 25% in 2025
Adult obesity worldwide
15.4%
+129% since 1990
Mobile broadband affordability
1.1%
from 1.9% of income in 2021 to 1.1% in 2024
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