📈 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.
📰 Trust in journalists has nearly doubled in 20 years
44 percent of Swedes have high or fairly high trust in journalists, according to the latest survey from the SOM Institute. The share has risen from 24 percent in 2004, nearly doubling over two decades. At the same time, the share who think journalists do their job poorly has been cut in half.
🚭 The share of Americans who smoke has dropped to a historic low
Less than ten percent of American adults smoked cigarettes in 2024, the first time the rate has reached single digits. Reduced smoking has contributed to nearly four million lung cancer deaths being averted between 1970 and 2022.
🏠 Americans have tripled their living space per person since 1950
The average living space per person in the US has increased from about 290 square feet in 1950 to over 890 square feet in 2024. The share of overcrowded homes has fallen from over 20% in 1940 to under 6%.
🦋 Rewilding in Scotland leads to sharply increased biodiversity
Rewilded land in Scotland has increased the number of suitable breeding territories for birds by 546% compared to non-rewilded land. The number of bumblebees and butterflies has increased more than tenfold, and the network is now estimated to support 2.5 million pollinating insects.
⛓️ Forced labor has nearly disappeared in the world
In 1789, 165 of 174 countries had large-scale forced labor – by 2024, only nine countries remained. The fastest change occurred after World War II, when the number of countries with widespread forced labor dropped from nearly 100 to 31 in just one generation.
🦋 The lord of the pessimists is dead – this was his great mistake
Dr. Paul Ehrlich has passed away. He was a cheerful pessimist who viewed humans as insects.
🧒 First vaccine that protects children from deadly E. coli infections
ETVAX is the first vaccine to show significant protection against E. coli infections in humans. The vaccine reduced moderate-to-severe diarrhea in infants under nine months by 68 percent. A phase 3 trial with 5,800 infants from low- and middle-income countries is about to begin.
🌲 Sweden's forests are growing – every harvested tree is replaced with two to three new seedlings
Sweden has twice as much old-growth forest compared to 30 years ago, according to the National Forest Inventory. The timber volume in Swedish forests has doubled since the 1920s.
📉 UK emissions at lowest level since 1872
Greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4 percent in 2025 and are now 54 percent below 1990 levels. Coal use halved and is at its lowest since 1600, while gas use dropped to the lowest level since 1992.