Word Progress Stats

Sometimes it’s good to have a reminder that progress is there even when it doesn’t feel like it, especially because it doesn’t get reported with the same frequency as bad news.

1. Over the last 20 years, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has almost been cut in half.

2. Just 200 years ago, 85% of the world population lived in extreme poverty. 20 years ago it was 29%. Today only 9% live in extreme poverty while the majority of people (75%) around the globe live in middle-income countries.

3. In 1997, 42% of the population of both India and China were living in extreme poverty. By 2017 that share had dropped to 12% in India and less than 1% for China. That means almost three-quarters of a billion fewer people are living in extreme poverty in these two countries than there were just 20 years earlier.

4. In 1800, among all babies who were ever born, roughly half died during their childhood. Life expectancy was just 30 years and no country had a life expectancy above 40. Life expectancy at birth was only 45 years in 1870. The average life expectancy around the world today is 72.

5. The violent crime rate has been on a downward trend since 1990 in the U.S. Just under 14.5 million crimes were reported in 1990. By 2016 that figure was well under 9.5 million.

6. The number of deaths from natural disasters is 25% of what it was 100 years ago.