📈 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.
🐴 World's only surviving wild horse species back from the brink of extinction
The Przewalski's horse was declared extinct in the wild during the 1970s and has been reintroduced through a conservation program launched in 1985. Przewalski's horse is the world's only surviving wild horse species and has an evolutionary history of 60 million years.
🗳️ Democracy strengthened or did not deteriorate in three quarters of the world's countries during 2025
Nearly three quarters of the world's countries received higher or unchanged scores in the 2025 democracy index. Latin America and the Caribbean broke a nine-year decline and improved their results. The global index rose by 0.02 points, one of the largest increases since 2012.
📈 Simon Abundance Index 2026: Access to basic commodities has increased by more than 500 percent since 1980
The Simon Abundance Index (SAI) measures the relationship between population and resource abundance. It rose from 100 in 1980 to 636.4 in 2025, an increase of 536.4 percent. While the world's population grew by 85 percent, personal resource abundance increased by 244 percent.
😶🌫️ The risk of developing dementia at any given age has dropped sharply
The share of older people with dementia at any given age has fallen by two-thirds over 40 years. An 85-year-old in 2024 has one-third the risk of having dementia compared to an 85-year-old in 1984.
🪱 Hookworm vaccine reduces infection in trial – could help millions with anemia
Hookworm infects more than 100 million people and is a major cause of iron-deficiency anemia, particularly in children and pregnant women. A phase 2 trial shows that a vaccine candidate substantially reduces the intensity of infection.
📉 Overdose deaths in the US have dropped 35 percent from the 2023 peak
The number of overdose deaths in the US is estimated to have fallen by 35 percent from the peak year of 2023 to 2025. The purity of seized fentanyl powder was cut in half between August 2023 and the end of 2024. A coordinated counter-narcotics strategy has choked off the supply of fentanyl.
🤰 Maternal mortality declining – new data and methods show measurable results
Globally, maternal mortality has decreased by 40 percent since 2000, according to estimates from the UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group. A sepsis prevention program at 59 hospitals in Malawi and Uganda reduced infection-related maternal mortality by 32 percent.
🧠 You don't just inherit general intelligence – ability in math and language is also more than half determined by genes
There has long been strong evidence that general intelligence is heritable. Now a large meta-analysis shows the same applies to abilities like math and language. The findings open up the possibility of using genetic profiles to tailor education to each child's cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
🏫 327 million more children – a 30 percent increase – are in school today compared to 2000
Since 2000, the world has seen one of the most extensive expansions of education in history. Enrollment in preschools has risen by 45 percent, and in higher education by 161 percent over the same period.