📈 Human Progress
In the last decades humanity has made great progress with less extreme poverty, increased health, wealth and democracy. We follow in the tradition of professor Hans Rosling.
🍷 Americans' drinking remains at the lowest level since 1939
54 percent of Americans say they drink alcohol, matching last year's low and the lowest figure since measurements began in 1939. The share who say they sometimes drink too much has fallen to 13 percent, compared with 35 percent in 1989.
📉 Suicides in the EU have fallen by almost 15 percent in ten years
The suicide rate in the EU fell from 12.2 to 10.4 per 100,000 residents between 2013 and 2023. The rate continued to decline between 2022 and 2023, from 10.6 to 10.4 per 100,000. The EU is investing more than €1.2 billion in mental health.
🧒 Children developed better as air got cleaner, 20-year study shows
Children in New York scored higher on tests of memory, problem-solving and language as air pollution declined. Levels of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide in the city halved between 1998 and 2016.
🧠 Meningitis deaths among young children have fallen by two thirds since 1990
Since 2015 alone, the meningitis mortality rate has dropped by 25.4 percent, and it is falling in every age group. Vaccines against the bacteria that cause the disease account for a large part of the decline.
🌱 Galápagos plant that was down to six individuals is recovering
In 2007, only six Galápagos snapdragon plants remained. Today, 28 adult plants grow at two sites on Isabela island. In 2024, the plant returned to Caleta Tagus, where the only known specimen was collected in 1962.
🏭 India's coal power has stopped growing for the first time in more than 50 years
India is using more electricity than ever, and demand grew by 7 percent over two years. Yet the country is not producing more electricity from coal. Clean energy met the entire increase. India is the world's third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide.
💣 Cambodia cleared mines from an area 13 times the size of Manhattan in six months
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre cleared 75,132 hectares of land contaminated by landmines in the first half of the year, reaching 82% of its annual target. The number of people killed or injured by mines has fallen from more than 4,000 a year in the 1990s to fewer than 100 a year.
💉 Ebola spread is slowing and vaccines are on the way
The spread of Ebola is declining in most of the affected provinces in Congo, according to the WHO. A large Phase 3 trial of Ebola vaccines is expected to start within the next few weeks. Frontline workers will be offered a vaccine in a separate study that starts within days.
⚰️ Homicides per capita have fallen 14 percent since 2015
The global homicide rate dropped from 5.9 to 5.1 victims per 100,000 people between 2015 and 2024. In the ten years before 2015, the figure held steady at around 6 victims per 100,000 people. If the decline continues at the same pace, the rate will reach 4.5 victims per 100,000 people by 2030.