See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization Mapped: Natural Resource Income as a Share of GDP See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Libya derives over half of its GDP from natural resource rents, making the country highly exposed to commodity price swings. Resource dependence is far more common in developing and energy-exporting economies than in advanced industrial nations. Natural resources remain a powerful driver of economic output for many countries. From oil and gas to minerals and forests, these assets can generate enormous income, but they also create vulnerability. This visualization maps natural resource income as a share of GDP, highlighting which economies are most dependent on extracting and selling raw materials. The data for this visualization comes from the World Bank Group. It measures natural resource rents as a share of GDP in 2021, defined as the economic surplus generated from oil, gas, coal, minerals, and forests after accounting for extraction costs. Extreme Resource Dependence in Energy Exporters A small group of countries sits at the extreme end of resource dependence. Libya tops the list, with natural resource rents accounting for 61% of its GDP, reflecting its heavy reliance on oil exports. Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Congo also derive more than one-third of their economic output from natural resources. In these economies, government revenues, employment, and foreign exchange earnings are closely tied to global commodity prices. RankCountryNatural Resources Income (% of GDP) 1 Libya61.03% 2 Iraq43.45% 3 Democratic Republic of the Congo38.83% 4 Republic of Congo37.71% 5 Zambia35.26% 6 Timor-Leste34.73% 7 Guyana33.68% 8 Mongolia33.14% 9 Iran, Islamic Rep.30.45% 10 Angola29.97% 11 Azerbaijan29.94% 12 Oman29.21% 13 Papua New Guinea27.39% 14 Qatar27.29% 15 Kazakhstan26.84% 16 Saudi Arabia25.57% 17 Brunei Darussalam24.28% 18 Equatorial Guinea23.50% 19 Algeria22.59% 20 Liberia21.92% 21 Chad21.34% 22 Uzbekistan20.47% 23 Burkina Faso20.14% 24 Russia18.51% 25 Gabon18.49% 26 Mali18.42% 27 Solomon Islands18.40% 28 Cabo Verde17.66% 29 United Arab Emirates17.63% 30 Chile16.90% 31 New Caledonia16.79% 32 Bahrain16.64% 33 Mozambique14.91% 34 Burundi13.96% 35 Australia13.36% 36 Ghana13.35% 37 Sudan12.75% 38 Peru12.72% 39 Kyrgyz Republic11.51% 40 Mauritania11.45% 41 Somalia11.24% 42 Guinea-Bissau10.43% 43 Central African Republic10.26% 44 Norway10.05% 45 Suriname9.59% 46 Bolivia9.47% 47 Tajikistan9.05% 48 Sierra Leone9.04% 49 Myanmar8.68% 50 Nigeria8.55% 51 Brazil7.94% 52 Togo7.86% 53 Trinidad and Tobago7.86% 54 Ukraine7.51% 55 Uganda7.48% 56 South Africa7.33% 57 Armenia7.05% 58 Malaysia6.92% 59 Ecuador6.70% 60 Tanzania6.69% 61 Niger6.41% 62 Zimbabwe6.40% 63 Ethiopia5.87% 64 Madagascar5.53% 65 Cameroon5.53% 66 Lao PDR5.38% 67 Colombia5.32% 68 Indonesia5.16% 69 Egypt5.14% 70 Canada4.95% 71 Cote d'Ivoire4.74% 72 Guinea4.52% 73 Senegal4.40% 74 Lesotho4.32% 75 Malawi4.22% 76 Namibia4.03% 77 Rwanda4.02% 78 Nicaragua3.84% 79 Panama3.66% 80 Mexico3.64% 81 India3.16% 82 Eswatini3.00% 83 Gambia, The2.86% 84 Bhutan2.73% 85 Argentina2.65% 86 Viet Nam2.55% 87 Benin2.30% 88 Fiji2.25% 89 Tunisia2.25% 90 Dominican Republic2.08% 91 Philippines1.97% 92 Guatemala1.93% 93 Uruguay1.93% 94 Sao Tome and Principe1.88% 95 Belarus1.86% 96 Thailand1.82% 97 Serbia1.75% 98 Estonia1.72% 99 China1.71% 100 Comoros1.63% 101 New Zealand1.49% 102 Albania1.44% 103 Pakistan1.44% 104 Georgia1.39% 105 Paraguay1.35% 106 United States1.28% 107 Kenya1.23% 108 Honduras1.22% 109 Sweden1.21% 110 Latvia1.17% 111 Romania1.14% 112 Botswana1.04% 113 Poland1.03% 114 Kosovo0.93% 115 Bulgaria0.92% 116 Cambodia0.84% 117 Turkiye0.83% 118 Bosnia and Herzegovina0.81% 119 Costa Rica0.76% 120 Croatia0.68% 121 Montenegro0.64% 122 Bangladesh0.61% 123 United Kingdom0.59% 124 Vanuatu0.57% 125 El Salvador0.54% 126 Belize0.52% 127 Nepal0.50% 128 Jamaica0.46% 129 Finland0.45% 130 Israel0.44% 131 Afghanistan0.43% 132 Hungary0.40% 133 Czechia0.39% 134 Morocco0.39% 135 Netherlands0.34% 136 Denmark0.34% 137 Barbados0.33% 138 Haiti0.33% 139 Portugal0.29% 140 Lithuania0.29% 141 Samoa0.28% 142 Djibouti0.28% 143 Moldova0.24% 144 Slovak Republic0.23% 145 Slovenia0.19% 146 North Macedonia0.14% 147 Seychelles0.12% 148 Austria0.12% 149 Spain0.12% 150 Italy0.11% 151 Ireland0.10% 152 Greece0.09% 153 Sri Lanka0.08% 154 Jordan0.08% 155 Germany0.08% 156 Korea, Rep.0.05% 157 Japan0.05% 158 Belgium0.04% 159 Kiribati0.04% 160 Tonga0.04% 161 Dominica0.03% 162 France0.03% 163 St. Vincent and the Grenadines0.02% 164 Micronesia, Fed. Sts.0.02% 165 The Bahamas0.01% 166 St. Lucia0.01% 167 Cyprus0.01% 168 Switzerland0.01% 169 Luxembourg0.00% 170 Maldives0.00% 171 French Polynesia0.00% 172 Turks and Caicos Islands0.00% 173 Lebanon0.00% 174 Mauritius0.00% 175 Aruba0.00% 176 Hong Kong0.00% 177 Macao0.00% 178 Singapore0.00% 179 Iceland0.00% 180 Andorra0.00% 181 Antigua and Barbuda0.00% 182 American Samoa0.00% 183 Bermuda0.00% 184 Cuba0.00% 185 Curacao0.00% 186 Eritrea0.00% 187 Faroe Islands0.00% 188 Grenada0.00% 189 Gibraltar0.00% 190 Greenland0.00% 191 Guam0.00% 192 Isle of Man0.00% 193Channel Islands0.00% 194 St. Kitts and Nevis0.00% 195 North Korea0.00% 196 Kuwait0.00% 197 Cayman Islands0.00% 198 Liechtenstein0.00% 199 Monaco0.00% 200 St. Martin (French part)0.00% 201 Marshall Islands0.00% 202 Northern Mariana Islands0.00% 203 Malta0.00% 204 Nauru0.00% 205 Puerto Rico (U.S.)0.00% 206 West Bank and Gaza0.00% 207 Palau0.00% 208 San Marino0.00% 209 South Sudan0.00% 210 Sint Maarten (Dutch part)0.00% 211 Syrian Arab Republic0.00% 212 Turkmenistan0.00% 213 Tuvalu0.00% 214 Venezuela, RB0.00% 215 British Virgin Islands0.00% 216 Virgin Islands (U.S.)0.00% 217 Yemen, Rep.0.00% Many of the most resource-dependent countries are concentrated in the Middle East and Africa. Oil- and gas-rich nations such as Iran, Angola, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia feature prominently. In sub-Saharan Africa, mineral exporters like Zambia and Mongolia, along with oil producers such as Equatorial Guinea and Chad, rely heavily on resource rents. Advanced Economies Show Low Resource Reliance In contrast, most advanced economies generate only a small share of GDP from natural resources. Countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom all register resource rents near or below 1% of GDP. Even resource-rich developed nations like Norway and Australia show relatively moderate dependence, reflecting diversified economies with strong manufacturing and services sectors. Learn More on the Voronoi App If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Global GDP Growth Projections in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Top 20 Central Banks Ranked by Total Assets (Q3 2025) Key Takeaways The Euro Area leads the world with over $7.1 trillion in central bank assets, narrowly ahead of China and the United States. Central bank assets can signal how actively a country intervenes in its economy, through QE, currency pegs, or reserve accumulation. Emerging markets like India, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia are increasingly significant, each holding over $500 billion in assets. Global central banks play a critical role in shaping economic stability and monetary policy. Their balance sheets, often stacked with government securities, foreign reserves, and other financial instruments, offer a window into their financial firepower and strategic priorities. The latest data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reveals the world’s largest central banks by total assets as of Q3 2025. This ranking reflects not only the size of the underlying economies but also differences in monetary policy strategies, levels of quantitative easing, and foreign exchange interventions. Central Bank Assets: A Breakdown Here’s a look at the top 20 central banks by assets held: RankCentral Bank LocationTotal Assets (billion $USD) 1 Euro Area7,130 2 China6,621 3 U.S.6,587 4 Japan4,517 5 Switzerland1,108 6 United Kingdom1,001 7 India911 8 Brazil898 9 Singapore610 10 Hong Kong534 11 Saudi Arabia515 12 South Korea410 13 Thailand309 14 Poland303 15 Mexico296 16 Türkiye289 17 United Arab Emirates276 18 Indonesia272 19 Australia263 20 Israel259 At the top of the list is the Euro Area with $7.13 trillion in total assets, followed closely by China ($6.62 trillion) and the United States ($6.59 trillion). These three collectively hold over half of the world’s central bank assets. Switzerland, despite its smaller population, holds over $1.1 trillion, which is an outsized figure driven by foreign exchange interventions and reserve accumulation. What Are Central Bank Assets, Exactly? Central bank assets represent everything from gold and foreign currency reserves to government bonds and loans to financial institutions. These reserves serve as the foundation for a central bank’s monetary operations and its ability to influence interest rates, control inflation, and stabilize currency values. Central banks are increasingly expected to act, not only as lenders of last resort, but also as stabilizers of financial markets through asset purchases and liquidity facilities. The Rise of Emerging Markets While developed economies dominate the top of the list, emerging markets are gaining ground. India’s Reserve Bank holds $911 billion in assets, and Brazil is close behind with $898 billion. Saudi Arabia, with $515 billion, reflects its massive energy-driven surplus and the management of its sovereign wealth and currency peg. This financial clout feeds into broader global power dynamics. For example, central bank reserves help back a country’s currency in international trade. In this light, countries with large reserves wield more influence over the global economy. As seen in our article Ranking the World’s Most Powerful Reserve Currencies, reserve-backed assets play a foundational role in global finance. Final Thoughts While total asset size doesn’t measure GDP or productivity, it reveals how much firepower a central bank has to stabilize markets or influence exchange rates. Countries with larger asset bases have more levers to manage financial shocks. As we head into a new phase of monetary tightening and shifting global capital flows, understanding these asset levels offers insight into which economies are best positioned to weather future volatility.

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization How Global Economic Power Shifted (1980–2025) See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways The U.S. has remained the world’s largest economy since 1980, with nominal GDP more than tenfold higher in 2025. China’s rise since 2000 is the most dramatic shift, overtaking Japan, Germany, and many others to become the world’s second-largest economy. Over the past four decades, the global economic hierarchy has undergone profound change. Some economies have grown steadily, others have surged, and a few have slipped down the rankings as new players emerged. This visualization charts the world’s top economies from 1980 to 2025. The data for this visualization comes from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook (October 2025). GDP figures are measured in current U.S. dollars and are not adjusted for inflation. The United States Remains on Top Since 1980, the United States has consistently ranked as the world’s largest economy. Its GDP rose from about $2.9 trillion in 1980 to more than $30.6 trillion by 2025. While its global share has fluctuated, the U.S. has maintained its lead due to a large domestic market, deep capital markets, and sustained productivity growth. China represents the most dramatic structural change in the global economy over the past 45 years. Rank1980GDP ($bn)2000GDP ($bn)2025 GDP ($bn) 1 U.S.2,857 U.S.10,251 U.S.30,616 2 Japan1,129 Japan4,968 China19,399 3 Germany857 Germany1,968 Germany5,014 4 France695 UK1,669 Japan4,280 5 UK605 France1,362 India4,125 6 Italy480 China1,220 UK3,959 7 China304 Italy1,150 France3,362 8 Canada276 Canada745 Italy2,544 9 Mexico242 Mexico742 Russia2,541 10 Argentina234 Brazil655 Canada2,284 In 1980, it ranked outside the top five, with GDP just over $300 billion. By 2010, China had already surpassed Germany and Japan, and by 2025 it stands firmly as the world’s second-largest economy at nearly $19.4 trillion. Japan dominated the global economy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, briefly narrowing the gap with the United States. However, slower growth and demographic headwinds caused it to lose ground, falling to fourth place by 2025. Europe’s largest economies—Germany, the United Kingdom, and France—have remained among the top 10. Emerging Markets Gain Ground Beyond China, several emerging economies climbed into the top ranks. India’s GDP expanded from under $200 billion in 1980 to more than $4.1 trillion in 2025, placing it among the world’s five largest economies. Outside of the top 10, countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Türkiye have also moved up the rankings, reflecting faster growth than many advanced economies over the long run. Learn More on the Voronoi App If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Global GDP Growth Projections in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

See more visualizations like this on the Voronoi app. Charted: Declining Fertility Rates in OECD Countries (1950-2025) See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Across 37 out of 38 OECD countries, fertility rates are below the 2.1 replacement level needed to sustain a population’s size. While South Korea and Chile have the lowest fertility rates across the group, Israel and Mexico have the highest. Fertility rates are collapsing faster than expected around the world. In Mexico, years of declining fertility rates have pushed average births per woman to 1.9, down from 6.7 in 1950. Moreover, fertility rates in Costa Rica are lower than the U.S., standing at 1.3 births per woman. This graphic shows total fertility rates in OECD countries compared to 1950, based on data from the United Nation’s World Population Prospects: The 2024 Revision. A Closer Look at Declining Fertility Rates Below, we show the total fertility rates of countries, which represents the average number of children a woman would have in her lifetime if current birth rates remain constant. CountryTotal Fertility Rate1950Total Fertility Rate2025Change1950 to 2025 South Korea6.10.7-5.4 Chile4.81.1-3.7 Italy2.51.2-1.3 Lithuania2.71.2-1.5 Japan3.61.2-2.4 Spain2.51.2-1.3 Finland3.21.3-1.9 Poland3.71.3-2.4 Costa Rica6.31.3-5.0 Austria2.11.3-0.8 Canada3.41.3-2.1 Greece2.61.3-1.3 Latvia2.11.3-0.8 Estonia2.31.4-0.9 Belgium2.31.4-0.9 Luxembourg2.01.4-0.6 Norway2.51.4-1.1 Sweden2.31.4-0.9 Netherlands3.11.4-1.7 Switzerland2.41.4-1.0 Germany2.21.5-0.7 Czechia2.81.5-1.3 Hungary2.61.5-1.1 Iceland3.91.5-2.4 Portugal3.21.5-1.7 Denmark2.61.5-1.1 United Kingdom2.21.5-0.7 Slovakia3.61.6-2.0 Slovenia3.01.6-1.4 Ireland3.51.6-1.9 Colombia6.41.6-4.8 Türkiye6.51.6-4.9 United States3.11.6-1.5 France3.01.6-1.4 Australia3.11.6-1.5 New Zealand3.61.6-2.0 Mexico6.71.9-4.8 Israel4.62.8-1.8 South Korea’s average fertility rate has plummeted from 6.1 births per woman in 1950 to 0.7 today, one of the fastest declines globally. Fertility rates in the country fell below the replacement level more than 40 years ago and have steadily declined since. Among the factors driving down birth rates are high childbearing costs, workplace barriers, and a rigid work culture. As we can see, Chile has the second-lowest total fertility rate in the OECD, at 1.1 births per woman, falling below Japan. In 1950, the total fertility rate was 4.8—higher than the majority of OECD countries. Meanwhile, Italy faces the lowest fertility rate among European countries, at 1.2 births per woman, and France has the highest at 1.6. Similarly, the U.S. sits on the higher end of the pack, with 1.6 births per woman, even as fertility rates hit record lows. Overall, only two OECD countries—Mexico and Israel—have higher fertility rates. Learn More on the Voronoi App To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on falling fertility rates of the world’s 10 biggest countries.

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization Mapped: The Most Populated Cities in the Middle East This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Cairo is by far the Middle East’s largest city, with a population exceeding 25 million in 2025. Egypt, Türkiye, Iran, and Saudi Arabia dominate the ranking, reflecting long-term urbanization trends. The Middle East is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing and most densely populated cities. Rapid population growth, rural-to-urban migration, and economic concentration have driven major cities to expand well beyond their historic cores. This map highlights the most populated cities in the region in 2025. The data for this visualization comes from the United Nations. Cairo Stands Alone at the Top Cairo ranks as the Middle East’s most populated city, with more than 25.5 million residents in 2025. The Egyptian capital has expanded steadily for decades, driven by high birth rates and sustained migration from rural areas. Alexandria and several other Egyptian cities also rank highly. RankLocationCity2025 population 1 EgyptAl-Qahirah (Cairo)25,566,000 2 TürkiyeIstanbul15,015,000 3 IranTehrān (Tehran)9,175,000 4 EgyptAlexandria7,267,000 5 Saudi ArabiaAr-Riyāḑ (Riyadh)6,916,000 6 JordanAmmān (Amman)6,404,000 7 IraqBaghdād (Baghdad)6,391,000 8 IranMashhad5,398,000 9 United Arab EmiratesDubai5,284,000 10 SyriaDimashq (Damascus)4,288,000 11 Saudi ArabiaJeddah4,284,000 12 KuwaitAl Kuwayt (Kuwait City)4,265,000 13 EgyptLuxor4,188,000 14 YemenŞan'ā' (Sana'a)4,019,000 15 TürkiyeAnkara3,612,000 16 IranKaraj3,599,000 17 SyriaAleppo2,922,000 18 TürkiyeIzmir2,650,000 19 IsraelTel Aviv2,643,000 20 Saudi ArabiaDammam2,336,000 21 TürkiyeBursa2,282,000 22 QatarAd-Dawhah (Doha)2,194,000 23 EgyptBanha2,089,000 24 IraqBasra2,034,000 25 IranIsfahan1,844,000 26 LebanonBayrūt (Beirut)1,794,000 27 EgyptEl Mansura1,713,000 28 Saudi ArabiaMecca1,692,000 29 IraqMosul1,665,000 30 IranAhwaz1,639,000 Türkiye and Iran Anchor Urban Growth Türkiye places multiple cities in the top 20, led by Istanbul with over 15 million people, followed by Ankara and Izmir. Iran also features prominently, with Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and several secondary cities reflecting the country’s large population and relatively balanced urban network. Gulf Cities Punch Above Their Weight Several Gulf cities appear high on the list despite much smaller national populations. Riyadh, Dubai, Jeddah, Doha, and Kuwait City have grown rapidly over the past two decades, fueled by economic diversification, infrastructure investment, and foreign labor inflows. While smaller than Cairo or Istanbul, their growth rates remain among the fastest in the region. Learn More on the Voronoi App If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The World’s Wealthiest Nations in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

See more visualizations like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization Ranked: The Performance of Magnificent Seven Stocks in 2025 See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Magnificent Seven stocks are up 27.5% year-to-date as of December 23. Alphabet is the best-performing stock among the pack, driven by a 47% share price gain in the fourth quarter. Performance across the Magnificent Seven stocks showed a clear divergence in 2025. This year, Google-parent Alphabet has surged above the rest thanks to optimism surrounding its in-house TPU chips and AI tools. In contrast, Amazon posted only single-digit gains amid slowing growth in its cloud computing business over the year. This graphic shows the performance of Magnificent Seven stocks in 2025, based on data from TradingView. A Closer Look at the Magnificent Seven Stocks in 2025 As of December 23, Magnificent Seven stocks averaged 27.5% returns in 2025, continuing to outpace the S&P 500 index by a sizable margin: Company/ Index2025 YTD Returns Alphabet65.8% Nvidia40.9% Tesla20.2% Microsoft15.5% Meta13.6% Apple8.8% Amazon5.8% S&P 500 (market cap weighted)17.5% Magnificent Seven Average27.5% With 65.8% returns, Alphabet, the world’s most profitable company, surged past Nvidia this year. Back in 2015, Alphabet began developing Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), designed for AI model training and inferencing. But in recent months, it announced it would begin selling these chips, sending its share price soaring. Not only is Meta in talks with Alphabet to buy its chips, the company signed a deal with Anthropic PBC to supply tens of thousands of chips to the AI firm. Nvidia follows with a 40.9% return, well below its 171% gain in 2024 and the 239% surge the year before. Despite doubling revenue year over year, the company is facing intensifying competition from Alphabet, AMD, and Broadcom. Meanwhile, Apple posted just 8.8% returns. This year, several high-level executives have left the company for other Big Tech firms amid a lackluster AI rollout. Among them is Jony Ive, a key builder of the iPhone, who went to OpenAI in a $6.5 billion pay package. Learn More on the Voronoi App To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the returns of global stock markets in 2025.

12 NASA Satellite Images That Tell the Story of Earth in 2025 From devastating wildfires to swirling cloud vortices, NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites captured remarkable views of our planet throughout 2025. These images reveal both the beauty and fragility of Earth’s systems, documenting natural phenomena, climate events, and human impacts visible from space. All images featured in this article come from NASA’s Earth Observatory, captured by instruments aboard a variety of satellites in orbit around Earth. Together, they tell the story of a dynamic planet in constant flux. The Palisades Fire’s Footprint NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey This false-color Landsat 9 image from January 14, 2025, reveals the burn scar left by the Palisades fire in Los Angeles County. The fire ignited on the morning of January 7 near the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and spread rapidly, consuming nearly 24,000 acres (97 square kilometers) of wildland and developed areas within one week. In this image, which combines shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible light, unburned vegetation appears green while recently burned landscape shows as light to dark brown. The charred areas stretch north and west of Pacific Palisades toward Malibu, where land previously burned by the December 2024 Franklin fire is also visible along the coast. Desert Dust Streams from Iran NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview This Terra MODIS image from January 22, 2025, captures dust plumes sweeping across southeastern Iran and streaming over the Gulf of Oman toward the Arabian Peninsula. The airborne material originates primarily from the dried bed of Hamun-e Jazmurian, an intermittent lake in one of southwest Asia’s major dust source regions. In this arid basin, some areas receive less than 10 centimeters (4 inches) of annual rainfall while evaporation rates remain high. The dust traveled south-southwest across the water to the coast of the United Arab Emirates, where the haze reduced visibility and prompted weather warnings. Beyond disrupting transportation, such dust events pose health risks: a recent analysis found that material from Jazmurian basin storms contains heavy metals and other substances hazardous to human and ecosystem health. Floating Solar Farm on India’s Narmada River NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey This Landsat 9 image from January 30, 2025, shows arrays of floating solar panels, known as “floatovoltaics,” spread across a reservoir on the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh, India. The geometric blue rectangles visible in the reservoir represent two floating solar projects commissioned in 2024, with a combined capacity of 216 megawatts. The reservoir, created by the Omkareshwar Dam completed in 2007, spans more than 90 square kilometers. Floating solar installations offer an alternative to land-based systems in areas where space is limited. They can also reduce evaporation, impede algal growth, and benefit from the cooling effect of water on panel efficiency. Swirling Skies and Melting Icebergs NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) This NOAA-20 VIIRS image from February 24, 2025, captures von Kármán vortex streets forming behind three of the remote South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The swirling cloud patterns appear when persistent westerly winds of moderate strength push marine stratocumulus clouds past the steep volcanic peaks of Visokoi, Candlemas, and Saunders islands. Named after mathematician and aerospace engineer Theodore von Kármán, who first described these oscillating flow features in 1911, the vortices form alternating spirals that rotate in opposite directions downstream of each obstacle. The cloud trail extending from Saunders Island appears slightly brighter than surrounding clouds due to volcanic emissions from Mount Michael, which has been weakly erupting since 2014. To the west of the island chain, several icebergs drift visibly beneath thin cloud cover. Haze Sweeps Over the Mediterranean NASA/ISS External Camera This photograph from the International Space Station’s external camera on April 30, 2025, provides an oblique view stretching from the Alps to Sicily, revealing layers of industrial haze drifting across the Mediterranean basin. Much of the haze originates from the Po Valley in northern Italy and the Rhône Valley in France, where surrounding mountains trap pollutants. The Po Valley haze drifts hundreds of kilometers over the Adriatic Sea toward Greece. Astronauts have documented this atmospheric phenomenon for decades, providing a unique perspective on how geography shapes air quality across southern Europe. Glacier Collapse Buries Swiss Village NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey This Landsat 9 image from May 29, 2025, shows the aftermath of a catastrophic collapse of the Birch Glacier in Switzerland’s Lötschental valley. The debris buried most of the village of Blatten, traveled 2.5 kilometers down the valley, and climbed 240 meters up the opposite valley wall before damming the Lonza River and causing flooding. Authorities began evacuating residents on May 19 after detecting instability. By May 27, the glacier was moving at 10 meters per day. Scientists believe rockfall accumulation on top of the glacier led to basal melting that reduced friction, triggering the collapse. The event was unusual in magnitude for the Swiss Alps. Rare Snow Blankets Australia’s Northern Tablelands NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey This Landsat 8 image from August 3, 2025, captures a rare blanket of snow across New South Wales’ Northern Tablelands, the heaviest snowfall in the region since the mid-1980s. A powerful low-pressure system brought up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) of snow to the highlands while dumping more than 100 millimeters of rain at lower elevations. The storm stranded vehicles, closed highways, and left properties without power. Flooding triggered dozens of rescues across the region. Phytoplankton Bloom in the Barents Sea NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview This Aqua MODIS image from August 5, 2025, reveals a massive phytoplankton bloom swirling through the Barents Sea near Norway’s Bear Island. The milky turquoise-blue colors indicate the presence of coccolithophores, single-celled organisms armored with calcium carbonate plates that scatter light. The green hues come from diatoms, another type of phytoplankton. The Barents Sea typically experiences two bloom seasons: diatoms dominate in May and June, while coccolithophores peak in August. These microscopic organisms form the base of the Arctic marine food web and play a critical role in the ocean’s carbon cycle and oxygen production. Researchers are closely studying how warming Atlantic currents may be shifting the location and extent of these blooms. Hurricane Erin Roils in the Atlantic NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview This Terra MODIS image from August 18, 2025, shows Hurricane Erin churning in the Atlantic Ocean as the first hurricane of the 2025 season. The storm underwent rapid intensification, jumping from Category 1 to Category 5 in just 24 hours between August 15 and 16, reaching peak sustained winds of 160 mph. Erin became only the 43rd Atlantic hurricane to reach Category 5 status since 1851, and the earliest to do so at this location. Factors contributing to its explosive strengthening included light wind shear, a compact structure, and warm sea surface temperatures. While Erin did not make landfall, it caused more than 147,000 power outages in Puerto Rico and prompted evacuation orders for North Carolina’s Outer Banks. British Columbia Wildfires Send Smoke Skyward NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview This Aqua MODIS image from September 2, 2025, captures thick smoke plumes rising from multiple lightning-ignited wildfires in British Columbia’s Cariboo region. The Itcha Lake fire had burned approximately 17,000 hectares (170 km²), while the Beef Trail Creek fire consumed around 7,800 hectares (78 km²) and the Dusty Lake fire charred about 2,800 hectares (28 km²). Evacuation orders were issued for surrounding communities. The towering pyrocumulus clouds generated by these fires can inject smoke and particulate matter high into the atmosphere, where it can travel thousands of kilometers and degrade air quality across distant regions. By the end of the season, British Columbia had burned 732,000 hectares (7,320 km²), slightly above the 10-year average. Overall, Canada experienced one of its worst fire seasons on record, trailing only 2023. A Desert Intersection NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey This Landsat 9 image from September 11, 2025, reveals a striking geological boundary in China’s Tarim Basin where the Mazartagh ridge meets the Hotan River. The 145 km (90 mile) ridge acts as a natural barrier, creating distinct dune patterns on either side. The Hotan is the only river fed by glacial meltwater that maintains enough flow to cross the entire Takla Makan Desert. For centuries, this region served as an important source of nephrite jade collected along the ancient Silk Road. Stubble Burning Shrouds Northern India in Haze NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview This Aqua MODIS image from November 11, 2025, shows thick haze blanketing northern India during the annual crop residue burning season. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh burn rice stubble between October and December to quickly clear fields before planting wheat. On this day, air quality exceeded 400 on India’s national index, well into the “severe” category. Scientists have detected a shift in burning patterns: fires now peak from 4-6pm rather than the previous window of 1-2pm, meaning traditional satellite monitoring systems miss many fires. Estimates suggest stubble burning contributes 40-70% of particulate pollution on peak days. The Tip of the Iceberg These 12 images represent just a fraction of the thousands of observations NASA’s satellites make each year. From tracking climate patterns to monitoring natural disasters, this orbital perspective helps scientists understand Earth’s interconnected systems and provides critical data for decision-makers around the world. As our planet continues to change, these eyes in the sky remain essential tools for documenting and responding to the challenges ahead.

The world moved fast in 2025. And so did the data. From the AI boom (and the infrastructure behind it) to shifting trade dynamics, our team published hundreds of charts and maps designed to help readers quickly understand what matters most. Many of this year’s standout visuals shared one thing in common: they revealed hidden scale—whether it was Africa’s true size, the sheer output of the world economy, or how a handful of regions, people, and companies dominate the numbers we live by. What does 2026 have in store? We’ve analyzed thousands of predictions about next year in the VC+ Global Forecast Series. Sign up to become a VC+ member before Jan 1 and get a free gift! In this yearly round-up, we’ve highlighted a small selection of our most impactful work. The following visualizations were selected because they reached millions of people, sparked lively conversations, or stood out for clarity, relevance, and design. Let’s dive in! Editor’s note: Click on any preview below to see the full-sized version of a visualization. #25 How Much Power Do Data Centers Use? AI didn’t just transform software in 2025. It kicked off a hyperscaler buildout, and that buildout has a real energy footprint. This visual shows how data centers already use about 8.9% of U.S. electricity, with projections pointing higher over the next few years. #24 The Smartest AI Models, by IQ This was published earlier in the year, but it still captures a defining theme of 2025. AI models are getting shockingly capable, shockingly fast. By comparing leading models on an IQ-style benchmark, the chart makes the “how smart is smart?” question feel very real. #23 Europe’s Top Economies in 2026 by Projected GDP This one stood out for its structure as much as its numbers. Countries are organized by where they sit regionally in Europe (North, West, South, and East). Then they’re sized by projected GDP, making Europe’s economic center of gravity obvious at a glance. #22 The Best-Selling Video Games Since 2020 A post-pandemic era deserves a post-pandemic snapshot. This radial chart shows which titles and franchises dominated sales since 2020. And it highlights a familiar pattern in entertainment: a small number of megahits tower over everything else. #21 How Many Countries Fit in Africa? The Continent’s True Size This is a classic visualization that we re-did. And it still captures people’s imagination every time. By overlaying entire countries onto Africa, it helps correct the mental distortion created by common map projections. #20 The World’s Largest Economies, Including U.S. States A big economic milestone helped inspire this one. Earlier in the year, California climbed high enough to rank as the world’s fourth-largest economy. So we compared countries and U.S. states side-by-side, showing how enormous sub-national economies can be. #19 How Much Control China Has Over the World’s Critical Minerals Critical minerals sit at the intersection of tech, defense, and energy. This infographic shows why the topic is also geopolitical. China dominates both production and refining for multiple key minerals, creating a potential supply-chain pressure point for the rest of the world. #18 The World’s Fastest Shrinking Countries Demographic shifts were one of the key themes of 2025. Fertility rates are falling, and more countries are entering population decline. This ranking shows where shrinkage is happening fastest, and hints at what it could mean for labor markets and long-term growth. #17 All of the World’s Births in 2025 in One Giant Chart This chart makes global demographic momentum impossible to ignore. The vast majority of births in 2025 occurred in Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, North America and Europe account for only a tiny slice of the world’s newborns, shaping very different futures across regions. #16 How Coca-Cola’s Secret Formula Has Changed Over Time A pop-culture brand story, with a timely twist. After political pressure pushed Coca-Cola to introduce a cane sugar variant in the U.S., we looked backward. This timeline compares Coke recipes over time, showing that the “secret formula” hasn’t been as static as people assume. #15 Visualizing the Top 10 Global Risks (2020-2025) What the world worries about changes year to year. This visualization tracks that evolution across the first half of the decade. It’s a simple way to see which risks are fading, which are rising, and which are becoming permanent fixtures. #14 Every Country’s Richest Billionaire in 2025 This is a massive infographic that identifies the richest billionaire in every single country. Beyond the names, the list makes a bigger point about wealth concentration, and how unevenly billionaire capital is distributed globally. #13 The World’s Largest Coal Producing Countries in 2024 The data is important here, but also the design is particularly memorable. When many people think of coal, they are also thinking of the impact it has on air quality. And this design takes that into consideration, creating a circular smoke ring that gets divvied up based on country coal production. #12 Every State’s Share of U.S. GDP Most people think about GDP at the country level. But state-level GDP is one of those unanswered questions people don’t realize they have. This mosaic answers it quickly, showing how concentrated U.S. economic output really is across just a handful of states. #11 The Most Reliable Car Brands in 2025 This was one of our most-read posts of the year, clearing 1.1 million views. That tells you the topic resonated, and the ranking format made it easy for readers to find and share the results. #10 Salary by Education Level in the United States The link between education and pay is well known, but this chart makes it feel even more concrete. It also stands out visually, using stacked books to turn a familiar statistic into something people stop scrolling for. #9 The World’s Most Profitable Companies in 2025 This is an 80/20 list in the truest sense. A handful of companies are clear outliers. The ranking makes modern corporate power visible, and shows how profitability is concentrated among a small group of tech and oil giants. #8 Which Countries Hold the Most Gold Reserves? Gold surged in 2025, reaching new highs. So naturally, this map felt especially relevant. It shows which countries hold the largest reserves, and which governments have the biggest “hard asset” backstops. #7 Countries With the Best Reputations in 2025 Soft power matters, and it can shift quickly. In 2025, amid foreign policy changes, the U.S. saw a major drop in international reputation, while countries like Switzerland and Canada remained strong at the top. #6 The 1%’s Share of U.S. Wealth Over Time (1989-2024) This was a standout partly because of the visualization approach. It uses a Mount Rushmore-style design to tell a very modern story. And beneath the style, it’s tracking a long-term trend: the steady rise in wealth concentration at the top. #5 Top 40 Jobs at Risk From AI Jobs and AI were central to the zeitgeist in 2025. This scatterplot highlights which occupations are most exposed based on task overlap with generative AI. It helped readers see something counterintuitive: many high-paying, white-collar roles rank as more exposed than hands-on jobs. #4 The Top Import Partner of Every U.S. State Trade and tariffs were one of the biggest topics to kick off the year. This visual helped make that story relevant on a more local level to many viewers: it shows each state’s top import partner, and it resonated strongly, pulling in 862,000 views. #3 The Most Educated Populations, Across 45 Countries This was our most popular post of the year, reaching 1.7 million views. Education continued to be a key topic on the Visual Capitalist website, partially because the impact of AI on the future of learning and work is still up in the air. #2 The World’s 30 Most Powerful Rivers This is one of our most unique visuals of the year. It uses a striking satellite-like effect, with rivers cutting through forests. Those rivers are scaled by discharge, turning a geography lesson into something that feels alive. The data is just as compelling. The Amazon is in a category of its own, with average discharge around 209,000 to 224,000 m³ per second. That’s about 20% of global river flow. The next most powerful systems trail far behind, which makes the visualization feel like a genuine “wow” moment. #1 The $117 Trillion World Economy in One Giant Visualization When you can see the entire world economy in one place, you instantly understand its size and scale, along with the big contrasts between blocs and countries. The U.S. remains the largest economy at roughly $30.6 trillion, but the visual also makes it easy to spot momentum. India’s economy reached roughly $4.1 trillion in 2025 and is on track to climb further in the global rankings. And beyond the numbers, this year’s edition just looks great. The color palette and design choices make it something readers want to stare at, and share.

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Mapped: China’s Military Drills Around Taiwan (2022-2025) See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways China’s military drills around Taiwan have grown larger, more complex, and more geographically expansive since 2022. The 2025 “Justice Mission” exercises appear to simulate a full blockade of Taiwan, marking the most extensive drills to date. China’s military activity around Taiwan has intensified sharply over the past few years, with the latest “Justice Mission 2025” being the largest-scale set of military drills to date around the island. This graphic maps out major People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drills in 2022, 2024, and 2025, showing how their scale and positioning have evolved over time. The data for this visualization comes from Reuters, drawing on announcements from China’s Maritime Safety Administration and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), as well as analysis from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. China’s Military Drills Around Taiwan in 2022 and 2024 “Justice Mission 2025” is the latest set of military drills around the island of Taiwan, following two major military exercises in 2022 and 2024. China’s 2022 military drills marked a major escalation in response to then–U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Following the visit, the PLA launched large-scale exercises encircling the island, with missiles fired over Taiwan along with naval and air forces operating in close proximity. Drill zones overlapped with Taiwan’s territorial waters, breaking with past norms. In 2024, the PLA again conducted drills around Taiwan, reinforcing patterns established two years earlier. These drills helped normalize a higher level of Chinese military presence around Taiwan, with a clear message that such pressure was no longer exceptional, but part of an ongoing posture. “Justice Mission 2025” Drills Simulate Taiwan Blockade The most recent drills, code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” include live-fire components and represent the largest and most comprehensive set of exercises to date. For reference, China’s armed forces far outnumber Taiwan’s in nearly every category. According to the PLA Eastern Theater Command, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force units were deployed around Taiwan, with the drills focused on sea-air combat readiness patrols, joint assaults, and blockades of key ports and areas. PLA spokesperson Shi Yi described the drills as a “stern warning” against Taiwan independence forces and external interference, calling them a necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty, as outlined in an official release from China’s Ministry of National Defense. These drills come amid newly heightened regional tensions after comments by Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, who suggested that an attack on Taiwan would result in a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Learn More on the Voronoi App To learn more about Taiwan and its essential role in the global technology industry, check out this graphic that charts Taiwan’s rising tech exports to the United States.

See more visualizations like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization How Income Distribution Stacks Up in America See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways The top 20% of U.S. earners receive more than half of all national income, a figure that has climbed from 43.5% in 1974. The middle 20% of earners, averaging $84,390 in household income, received 13.9% of the total. High income households in America capture a large share of the nation’s earnings, and this gulf has widened over time. In 2024, the top 20%—with an average household income of $316,100—took home 52.2% of all national income, up 8.7 percentage points from 1974. Meanwhile, the bottom 20% received just 3.1%, further shrinking over the period. This graphic shows U.S. household income distribution in 2024, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Trends in U.S. Income Distribution (2024 vs. 1974) Below, we show how household income is divided across different income brackets: Income LevelAverage Household Income (2024)Share of Household Income 2024Share of Household Income 1974Change in Share1974-2024 (p.p.) Bottom 20%$18,4603.1%4.3%-1.2 Second 20%$49,3808.2%10.6%-2.4 Middle 20%$84,39013.9%17.0%-3.1 Fourth 20%$136,80022.6%24.6%-2.0 Top 20%$316,10052.2%43.5%+8.7 Top 5%$560,00023.1%16.5%+6.6 In 2024, the bottom fifth of U.S. earners averaged $18,460 in household income. While small, their share of total national income has fallen sharply, declining by about 28% since 1974. Moreover, this group includes workers earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as well as the roughly 760,000 workers who earn below this level. In particular, younger workers make up a large portion of this bracket, with 43% of those earning minimum wage or less being 25 years old or younger. As we can see, the middle fifth of earners received 13.9% of U.S. household income in 2024, down from 17% in 1974. With an average household income of $84,390, this bracket largely reflects median-wage workers, spanning occupations such as civil engineers, computer programmers, and clinical psychologists. On the other hand, the top 5% of earners, averaging $560,000 in income has seen it share expand by 6.6 percentage points. Moreover, it is the only income bracket, along with the top 20%, to see its share of national income grow compared to 1974. Learn More on the Voronoi App To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on real wage growth by state.

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization Ranked: The Countries With the Most Oil Reserves See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Just five countries control more than half of the world’s proven oil reserves. Despite the energy transition, fossil fuels still account for nearly 70% of global energy demand. Oil remains one of the most strategically important resources in the global economy. It powers transportation systems, underpins industrial activity, and continues to shape geopolitics and trade flows. While renewable energy is growing, oil still plays a dominant role in meeting global energy needs. This visualization ranks countries by the size of their proven oil reserves at the end of 2024. The data for this graphic comes from OPEC’s Annual Statistical Bulletin 2025. Figures represent proven oil reserves as of year-end 2024 and are measured in billions of barrels. The data includes conventional crude oil as well as oil sands. Five Countries Dominate Global Oil Reserves Global oil reserves are highly concentrated. Venezuela ranks first with an estimated 303 billion barrels of oil reserves. However, turning this vast resource base into economic and geopolitical power has proven difficult, as ongoing U.S. sanctions and the recent seizure of Venezuelan oil shipments under the Trump administration continue to limit the Maduro government’s ability to export crude and fully monetize its reserves. Saudi Arabia follows the South American country with 267 billion barrels. Iran, Canada, and Iraq round out the top five. RankCountry2024 (Billion Barrels) 1 Venezuela303 2 Saudi Arabia267 3 Iran209 4 Canada163 5 Iraq145 6 Kuwait102 7 Russia80 8 Libya48 9 United States45 10 Nigeria37 11 Kazakhstan30 12 China28 13 Qatar25 14 Brazil16 15 Algeria12 16 Azerbaijan7 17 Norway7 18 Mexico5 19 Sudan5 20 India5 21 Oman5 22 Vietnam4 23 Egypt3 24 Argentina3 25 Malaysia3 26 Angola3 27 Indonesia2 28 Colombia2 29 Gabon2 30 Congo2 31 Australia2 32 United Kingdom2 33 Brunei1 34 Equatorial Guinea1.1 35 Turkmenistan0.6 36 Uzbekistan0.594 37 Ukraine0.395 38 Denmark0.365 39 Belarus0.198 40 Chile0.15 The Role of OPEC and the Middle East Many of the world’s largest oil reserves are held by OPEC members, particularly in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates anchor the region’s dominance. These countries benefit from low extraction costs and large, easily accessible reserves. As a result, Middle Eastern producers are expected to remain critical suppliers even as global demand growth slows. Oil Sands and Non-OPEC Producers Canada stands out among non-OPEC countries, ranking fourth globally with 163 billion barrels of reserves. The majority of Canada’s reserves come from oil sands, which are more expensive and carbon-intensive to extract. Russia and the United States also rank among the top 10. Taken together, the data highlights how unevenly oil resources are distributed and why oil-rich nations continue to have significant economic and geopolitical power. Learn More on the Voronoi App If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Charted: Global Grid Investment by Country (2020–2027F) on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization Ranked: The Top 20 Exporters of Goods vs Digital Services See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Global goods exports totaled $23.8 trillion in 2024, far exceeding the $4.8 trillion in digital exports. China leads the world in goods exports, while the U.S. dominates digital services exports. Several smaller economies like Singapore, Switzerland, and Luxembourg rank much higher in digital exports than in goods trade. Global trade today spans two very different categories: physical goods such as machinery, vehicles, and manufactured products, and digital services like software, cloud computing, and online platforms. This infographic breaks down the world’s top 20 exporters of physical goods and digital services in 2024, based on data from the World Trade Organization. The World’s 20 Largest Exporters of Goods Goods trade remains the backbone of global commerce. In 2024, countries exported a combined $23.8 trillion worth of physical goods, driven largely by manufacturing powerhouses. The table below ranks the top 20 exporters of physical goods worldwide: RankCountryGoods Exports in 2024 (USD, billions) 1 China$3,577 2 U.S.$2,065 3 Germany$1,682 4 Netherlands$921 5 Japan$707 6 South Korea$684 7 Italy$674 8 Hong Kong$646 9 France$639 10 Mexico$617 11 UAE$604 12 Canada$569 13 Belgium$536 14 UK$513 15 Singapore$506 16 Taiwan$474 17 Switzerland$447 18 India$443 19 Russia$433 20 Spain$424 China sits firmly at the top, exporting $3.38 trillion in goods—more than the United States and Germany combined. The U.S. follows with $2.02 trillion, while Germany ranks third at $1.69 trillion, reflecting its strong automotive and industrial base. Other major goods exporters include the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, France, South Korea, and several European economies. Mexico and Canada also rank among the largest goods exporters globally, with the majority of their exports going to the United States. The World’s 20 Largest Digital Services Exporters While smaller in total value, digital exports are growing rapidly and reshaping global trade patterns. In 2024, digital services exports reached $4.8 trillion worldwide. The table below shows the top 20 exporters of digital services: RankCountryDigital Exports in 2024 (USD, billions) 1 U.S.$741 2 UK$488 3 Ireland$425 4 Germany$280 5 India$276 6 China$221 7 Singapore$220 8 Netherlands$205 9 France$204 10 Luxembourg$140 11 Switzerland$122 12 Japan$119 13 Belgium$89 14 Canada$84 15 Sweden$82 16 Spain$81 17 South Korea$68 18 Israel$66 19 Italy$65 20 Poland$54 The United States leads by a wide margin, exporting $741 billion in digital services, supported by its dominance in software, cloud infrastructure, and digital platforms. The U.S. is also the largest importer of digital services globally. The U.K. comes second with $488 billion in digital exports, a significant jump from its 13th spot in goods exports. Ireland follows with $425 billion, up 24% from 2023 to 2024. Similar to its standing in goods exports, Germany ranks highly in the digital category, with $280 billion worth of digital services exported in 2024. Meanwhile, India’s strong showing reflects its growing role as a global hub for IT and business services, with digital exports up 10% from 2023 levels. Several smaller economies, including Switzerland, Singapore, and Luxembourg, rank disproportionately high in digital exports, benefiting from financial services and intellectual property flows. Two Paths to Trade Leadership Goods exporters tend to rely on scale, capital-intensive industries, and physical infrastructure. Digital exporters, by contrast, often benefit from human capital and intellectual property, allowing smaller countries to compete globally without massive manufacturing bases. As the global economy continues to digitalize, the balance between goods and digital trade is likely to change, reshaping how countries generate export growth and economic influence. Learn More on the Voronoi App If you enjoyed today’s post, explore more global trade and economy insights on Voronoi, including The Global Export Power Shift.

Global risk is entering a new phase. From Trump-era policy shifts and geopolitical tension to financial fraud, life sciences disruption, and record-breaking extreme weather, the landscape in 2025 is more volatile and interconnected than ever. Throughout 2025, we partnered with Inigo to map these pressures across key themes, including politics, markets, and climate. Below is a curated set of 10 visuals, grouped into five themes, with links to view each graphic in full, illustrating how data-driven storytelling can bring clarity to today’s risk landscape. A New U.S. Administration 1. Ranked: Executive Orders by President in the First 100 Days Executive orders signed in the first 100 days reveal how aggressively different presidents have used unilateral power, with Trump ranked at the top of the modern pack at 143 orders in his first 100 days of this term. Since then, he has brought his total to about 220 executive orders as of December 2025, far eclipsing recent presidents over a similar period. Explore the ranking 2. Are Tariffs Causing U.S. Inflation Fears? Inflation remains near 3% year-over-year, but proposed universal tariffs and higher levies on Chinese imports have reopened debate over whether trade policy could reignite price pressures. See the breakdown Geopolitics 3. Which Types of Government Rule the World? The global political map shows a patchwork of democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian governments, with a large share of the world’s population living under non-democratic systems. This distribution shapes everything from policy predictability and the rule of law to sovereign-risk profiles. See the split 4. Breaking Down the $524B Investment Needed to Rebuild Ukraine Ukraine’s estimated reconstruction bill is spread across housing, transport, energy, industry, and agriculture, illustrating the breadth of damage from the war. The sector breakdown highlights that rebuilding will require decades of capital, coordination, and political risk management. Explore the breakdown Fraud 5. Ranked: America’s Most Common Financial Crimes The most frequently reported financial crimes in the U.S.—from check fraud and purposeless transactions to suspicious transfers and identity theft—reveal where everyday vulnerabilities are most exposed. These patterns help risk teams focus controls and monitoring on the channels criminals exploit at scale. Explore the ranking 6. The Fraud Trends Reshaping Risk in 2025 AI-powered scams, deepfakes, instant payments, and synthetic identities are among six trends pushing fraud into a new, more complex phase. The graphic shows how emerging technology is lowering the cost of sophisticated attacks and shifting liability across banks, platforms, and end users. See the six trends Extreme Weather 7. Which U.S. Cities Saw Record-Breaking Temperatures in 2024? Record-breaking temperatures in 2024 popped up across a wide range of U.S. cities, not just traditional heat hotspots. The pattern underscores mounting stress on public health, infrastructure, and power grids as extreme heat becomes more frequent and widespread. View the map 8. Ranked: The Most Expensive U.S. Wildfire Events, So Far A relatively small number of mega-wildfires account for a disproportionate share of insured and economic losses in the United States. These outsized events raise hard questions about pricing, capacity, and long-term insurability at the wildland-urban interface. Explore the ranking Life Sciences 9. The $5.6T Pharmaceutical Industry in One Chart Revenue across the roughly $5.6 trillion pharma ecosystem is heavily concentrated among a small group of global giants and blockbuster therapy areas. The landscape reflects how aging populations, chronic disease, and medical innovation are reshaping both growth prospects and risk exposures. View the full chart 10. The $58B Weight Loss Drug Market in One Chart GLP-1s and related treatments have rapidly built a $58 billion weight-loss drug market, transforming expectations around obesity and metabolic disease. The surge in demand hints at far-reaching implications for healthcare costs, longevity, food and beverage demand, and life & health insurance. Explore the chart Looking Ahead: Building the Future Grid From Trump-era policy shifts and geopolitical shocks to fraud, pharma breakthroughs, and extreme weather, today’s threats are deeply interconnected. Navigating them demands smarter data, flexible capital, and a holistic view of how risk propagates across systems. From geopolitical shocks to climate extremes, Inigo helps turn uncertainty into clarity. Discover Inigo’s approach

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization Ranked: Top U.S. Industries by Investment Share (1949–2025) See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways The industries attracting the most investment in the U.S. have shifted dramatically over time, from farming and railroads to technology and data. Today’s leading sector, information and data processing, commands a smaller share of total investment than past dominant industries. Investment has long been a driving force behind U.S. economic growth, but the sectors attracting the most capital have changed with each era. From agriculture and electrification in the mid-20th century to telecommunications, real estate, and now digital infrastructure, investment trends reflect broader shifts in technology, consumer demand, and policy. This visualization shows the top five U.S. industries by share of total investment at key historical peaks, spanning 1949 to 2025. The data for this visualization comes from Vanguard, using calculations based on Bureau of Economic Analysis data as of October 31, 2025. The figures exclude residential investment. Postwar America: Farming, Power, and Railroads In 1949, U.S. investment was concentrated in industries that supported a rapidly expanding, industrializing economy. Farming led with a 12% share of total investment, reflecting the sector’s central role in employment and production. Electric power and railroads followed closely, underscoring the importance of nationwide infrastructure as the U.S. rebuilt and modernized after World War II. Telecommunications and oil and gas rounded out the top five. EraRankIndustryShare 19491Farming12% 2Electric power7% 3Railroads6% 4Telecommunications6% 5Oil and gas5% 19821Oil and gas11% 2Telecommunications8% 3Real estate6% 4Electric power5% 5Banking4% 20001Telecommunications11% 2Real estate7% 3Computers and electronics6% 4Banking6% 5Electric power4% 20251Information and data processing7% 2Electric power6% 3Chemical products5% 4Real estate5% 5Miscellaneous5% The 1980s and 2000s: Energy, Communication, and Finance By 1982, investment leadership had shifted toward oil and gas, which accounted for 11% of total investment. Telecommunications and real estate also gained prominence, alongside banking and electric power. In 2000, at the height of the dot-com era, telecommunications topped the list, while computers and electronics emerged as a major investment destination. Real estate and banking also featured prominently. 2025: Technology Dominates, but Less Concentrated Today, information and data processing leads U.S. investment with a 7% share—making it the top industry, but with far less dominance than historical leaders. Electric power, chemical products, and real estate follow closely, each capturing around 5–6% of total investment. This lower concentration suggests a more diversified investment landscape, where capital is spread across a wider range of industries rather than clustered in a single dominant sector. Learn More on the Voronoi App If you enjoyed today’s post, check out America’s $38 Trillion Mountain of Debt on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

See more visualizations like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization The Average Cost of a New Home vs. Square Footage (2015-2024) See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways The average size of a new single-family home in America has shrunk by 323 square feet since 2015, while the average price is up $161,000 as of 2024. The share of new-home buyers is at a record low given rising unaffordability. Each year, new single-family homes continue to shrink further. With the exception of 2022 and 2023, the average square footage of new homes has declined since 2015. In contrast, home prices have jumped 46% over the decade, averaging $514,000 in 2024 due to strong housing demand. This graphic shows the typical size versus the average cost of a new home since 2015, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau via Fixr. Shrinkflation and the Average Cost of a New Home Below, we compare the average square footage of a single-family home in America to sales prices in the last decade: YearAverage Sales Price of a New HomeAverage Square Feet 2015$353,0002,687 2016$361,0002,640 2017$385,0002,631 2018$385,0002,588 2019$384,0002,509 2020$392,0002,480 2021$458,0002,480 2022$521,0002,509 2023$514,0002,485 2024$514,0002,364 Since 2015, the average home size has shrunk by 323 square feet, with even sharper decreases in the South, at 374 square feet. Meanwhile, prices are $161,000 higher than 10 years ago. Even though average 30-year fixed mortgage rates sit around 6.5–7%—up from 2.7% in 2020—prices remain elevated. Along with a higher cost of capital, the prices of land, labor, and raw materials have increased meaningfully, further driving up costs. Overall, construction costs account for almost two-thirds of the sales price. More recent data shows that new-home buyers are at record lows in America, representing just 21% of the total market. Meanwhile, the average age of first-time buyers is at an all-time high of 40. For perspective, first-time homebuyers have made up 38% of all buyers, on average, for about four decades. Learn More on the Voronoi App To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on rent and home price changes across major global cities since 2015.

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app. Where Do Microplastics Come From Anyway? This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Over one-third of microplastic pollution comes from synthetic textiles like fleece jackets and polyester shirts. Tire wear and city dust are also major contributors, accounting for a combined 52% of the total. An estimated 21 million tonnes of microplastics have accumulated in the environment, enough to cover 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) at 10 feet (3 meters) depth. Most people know that plastic pollution is a problem, but microplastics (the tiny fragments shed by everyday products) are much more pervasive than many realize. Microplastics are defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 mm. These particles are found everywhere: in oceans, soil, drinking water, food, and even the air we breathe. Yet, the origins of these particles are often invisible to consumers. Using data from the IUCN, CSIRO, and Elsevier, this graphic by Made Visual Daily breaks down what actually makes up these particles and where they come from. A breakdown of microplastic sources, compiled from multiple environmental studies: Source CategoryShare of Global Primary Microplastics (2020-2023) Synthetic Textiles34.8% Tire Wear28.3% City Dust24.2% Road Markings7.0% Marine Coatings3.7% Personal-Care Microbeads2.0% Plastic Pellets (“Nurdles”)0.3% The chart shows that the biggest contributor to microplastics is synthetic textiles, which account for 35% of the total. Tires (28%) and city dust (24%) are also major culprits, followed by road markings (7%) and a grab bag of other sources (6%). How Do These Microplastics Enter the Environment? Microplastics enter the environment in two main forms: primary and secondary. Primary microplastics are released directly into the environment at a microscopic size. These include: Fibers shed from washing synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon, or acrylic. Rubber dust worn from car and truck tires during normal use. Fragments in city dust from the abrasion of paints, soles, furniture, and building coatings. Plastic pellets (“nurdles”) lost during plastic manufacturing or shipping. Secondary microplastics, on the other hand, are formed when larger plastic debris—like bags, bottles, or fishing gear—breaks down over time due to sunlight, wave action, and weathering. These degrade into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually becoming microplastics. Both types are persistent, pervasive, and increasingly found in even the most remote ecosystems. Research shows that even atmospheric currents can transport microplastic particles across continents and oceans. The Scale of the Problem Scientists estimate that roughly 21 million tonnes of primary microplastics have accumulated across land and sea environments, with millions of tonnes found in both agricultural soils and ocean waters. To help readers grasp the sheer scale of this invisible pollution, the graphic visualizes this total as an area filled 10 feet (3 meters) deep across a span of 2 miles (3.2 kilometers). As highlighted in our previous breakdown of the future of the world’s plastic, the accumulation of these invisible pollutants is a growing concern, with long-term impacts still being uncovered. What Can Be Done? Solutions will require both technological and behavioral changes. For instance, innovations like microfiber filters in washing machines, and the development of alternative materials for tires and textiles, could help reduce the release of particles at the source. In the meantime, understanding where microplastics come from is a critical first step. As this breakdown shows, the issue goes far beyond just plastic straws and bags. Learn More on the Voronoi App Explore more microplastic visualizations like Visualizing The Size of Microplastics on Voronoi, our data storytelling app.

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization All of the World’s Births in 2025 in One Giant Chart See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways The world is expected to see about 132 million births in 2025, with most occurring in Asia and Africa. Nigeria alone is projected to have more births than all of Europe combined. In 2025, global births are expected to remain highly concentrated in a relatively small number of countries. This visualization shows where the world’s newest citizens are being born and highlights the regions driving global population growth. The data for this visualization comes from the UN World Population Prospects 2024 via Our World in Data. Asia Remains the Global Center of Births Asia accounts for the largest share of births worldwide, driven primarily by populous countries with relatively young populations. India leads by a wide margin, with more than 23 million births expected in 2025—nearly one in six births globally. China follows with about 8.7 million births, despite decades of declining fertility. Other major contributors include Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, underscoring Asia’s continued demographic weight. RankCountryBirths in 2025 (Proj.)Continent 1 India23,073,268Asia 2 China8,709,352Asia 3 Nigeria7,640,590Africa 4 Pakistan6,909,545Asia 5 Congo (DRC)4,559,718Africa 6 Indonesia4,440,838Asia 7 Ethiopia4,176,742Africa 8 United States3,663,798North America 9 Bangladesh3,441,259Asia 10 Brazil2,528,724South America 11 Egypt2,450,027Africa 12 Tanzania2,419,272Africa 13 Mexico2,003,673North America 14 Philippines1,845,745Asia 15 Uganda1,734,565Africa 16 Sudan1,656,421Africa 17 Kenya1,540,813Africa 18 Afghanistan1,507,838Asia 19 Angola1,429,803Africa 20 Yemen1,401,358Asia 21 Vietnam1,328,422Asia 22 Mozambique1,304,409Africa 23 Russia1,241,824Europe 24 Iraq1,187,570Asia 25 South Africa1,175,749Africa 26 Niger1,138,168Africa 27 Iran1,125,230Asia 28 Türkiye1,053,303Asia 29 Madagascar1,023,320Africa 30 Côte d’Ivoire1,017,551Africa 31 Mali987,043Africa 32 Cameroon980,661Africa 33 Uzbekistan911,213Asia 34 Chad907,325Africa 35 Ghana897,874Africa 36 Myanmar888,309Asia 37 Algeria855,432Africa 38 Somalia822,215Africa 39 Japan748,163Asia 40 Burkina Faso741,692Africa 41 Zambia708,934Africa 42 Germany707,972Europe 43 Colombia692,792South America 44 Malawi685,330Africa 45 United Kingdom680,076Europe 46 France634,528Europe 47 Morocco619,057Africa 48 Syria601,433Asia 49 Thailand572,371Asia 50 Saudi Arabia564,878Asia 51 Nepal551,647Asia 52 Senegal547,717Africa 53 Peru535,695South America 54 Argentina508,067South America 55 Zimbabwe500,731Africa 56 Guinea494,546Africa 57 Benin489,564Africa 58 Burundi468,720Africa 59 Malaysia439,747Asia 60 Venezuela436,134South America 61 Rwanda404,109Africa 62 Kazakhstan395,033Asia 63 Italy382,523Europe 64 Guatemala380,110North America 65 Canada361,103North America 66 South Sudan357,711Africa 67 Cambodia354,622Asia 68 North Korea334,881Asia 69 Spain330,044Europe 70 Sri Lanka318,489Asia 71 Australia304,326Oceania 72 Poland297,389Europe 73 Togo296,051Africa 74 Ecuador267,665South America 75 Tajikistan264,517Asia 76 Bolivia261,486South America 77 Sierra Leone260,288Africa 78 Haiti257,433North America 79 Papua New Guinea256,974Oceania 80 Central African Republic250,088Africa 81 South Korea245,858Asia 82 Honduras234,594North America 83 Jordan232,046Asia 84 Ukraine220,203Europe 85 Dominican Republic199,014North America 86 Congo195,536Africa 87 Mauritania178,900Africa 88 Romania178,474Europe 89 Netherlands174,210Europe 90 Liberia173,467Africa 91 Israel171,390Asia 92 Chile170,383South America 93 Laos161,375Asia 94 Tunisia160,508Africa 95 Turkmenistan152,636Asia 96 Kyrgyzstan149,483Asia 97 Palestine144,890Asia 98 Paraguay135,786South America 99 Nicaragua131,804North America 100 Taiwan125,322Asia -- Other Asia769,291Asia -- Other Africa806,706Africa -- Other North America402,575North America -- Other South America67,744South America -- Other Europe1,356,857Europe -- Other Oceania125,342Oceania -- World Total132,307,997-- Africa’s Rapid Population Growth Africa is the fastest-growing region by births, reflecting high fertility rates and youthful populations across much of the continent. Nigeria stands out with an estimated 7.6 million births in 2025, more than all of Europe combined, which is projected to see about 6.3 million. Several other African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Egypt, also rank among the global leaders. Europe and East Asia Face Demographic Headwinds In contrast, Europe and parts of East Asia show relatively low birth numbers due to aging populations and persistently low fertility rates. Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy each record fewer than 750,000 births annually. Japan, once a major contributor to global births, is also projected to see fewer than 750,000 births in 2025, reflecting its long-running demographic decline. These patterns raise concerns about labor force growth and long-term economic sustainability in many advanced economies. Learn More on the Voronoi App If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Where Immigrant Earnings Grow the Fastest on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Use This Visualization Ranked: The Best Countries at Reading See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Asian education systems dominate global reading performance, led by Singapore. Only a handful of countries score well above the OECD average of 476. Every three years, the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) evaluates how well 15-year-olds can apply reading skills to real-world situations. This visualization ranks the top-performing countries based on their average reading scores. The data for this visualization comes from the OECD’s PISA 2022 results. PISA measures reading proficiency in a student’s native or primary language of instruction, focusing on comprehension, interpretation, and evaluation of written texts. Top-performing systems typically score in the 550–560 range, while the OECD average is 476. Singapore Leads by a Wide Margin Singapore ranks first globally with an average reading score of 543, placing it comfortably ahead of all other countries. The city-state’s education system emphasizes structured literacy, teacher quality, and early intervention for struggling students. The country also leads the world in math performance. Japan and Ireland follow at a distant second and third, both scoring 516. RankCountryAverage PISA Score 1 Singapore543 2 Japan516 3 Ireland516 4 Taiwan515 5 Korea515 6 Estonia511 7 Macao510 8 Canada507 9 United States504 10 New Zealand501 11 Hong Kong500 12 Australia498 13 United Kingdom494 14 Finland490 15 Poland489 16 Czech Republic489 17 Denmark489 18 Sweden487 19 Switzerland483 20 Italy482 21 Germany480 22 Austria480 23 Belgium479 24 Portugal477 25 Norway477 — OECD average476 26 Latvia475 27 Croatia475 28 France474 29 Spain474 30 Israel474 Strong Showing from East Asia and Northern Europe East Asian economies dominate the top of the ranking, with Taiwan, Korea, Macao, Hong Kong, and Japan all placing in the top 11. These systems often stress rigorous curricula, strong parental involvement, and consistent national standards. Northern European countries such as Estonia and Finland also perform well, reflecting long-standing investments in equitable education and student well-being. Estonia’s score of 511 places it among the global elite despite its relatively small population. English-Speaking Countries Cluster Near the Top Several English-speaking countries also appear in the upper half of the ranking, including Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Canada leads this group with a score of 507. Notably, many large European economies, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, cluster around or just above the OECD average. Learn More on the Voronoi App If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The World’s Wealthiest Nations in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app. Ranked: The Best-Selling Video Games Since 2020 See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a pandemic-era hit, leads the list with 48.2 million units sold—14.2 million more than second-place Hogwarts Legacy (34.0 million). The top 10 titles account for roughly 65% of total sales across the top 20 best-sellers (305.3M out of 470.2M units). Since 2020, blockbuster game launches have arrived across every major platform and in a variety of genres, from cozy life sims to sprawling open-world adventure RPGs. This visualization ranks the best-selling video games from 2020 to 2025 based on global unit sales using data from Video Game Sales Wiki (Fandom). Animal Crossing Dominates as the 2020s’ Best-Selling Game At 48.2 million units, Animal Crossing: New Horizons stands alone at the top of the ranking. The game released on March 20, 2020, right as much of the world began to lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the latest addition to the Animal Crossing series made for the perfect time-sink amidst a period of global uncertainty and inactivity. The table below shows the full ranking of the top 20 best-selling games from 2020 to 2025: RankVideo GameGlobal Sales (units) 1Animal Crossing: New Horizons48,190,000 2Hogwarts Legacy34,000,000 3Elden Ring30,000,000 4Cyberpunk 207730,000,000 5Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War30,000,000 6Call of Duty: Vanguard30,000,000 7Black Myth: Wukong28,000,000 8Pokémon Scarlet / Violet27,150,000 9Phasmophobia25,000,000 10It Takes Two23,000,000 11The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom22,000,000 12Helldivers 218,000,000 13Monster Hunter Rise17,500,000 14Nintendo Switch Sports16,270,000 15Super Mario Bros. Wonder16,030,000 16Pokémon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl15,060,000 17Assassin's Creed Valhalla15,000,000 18God of War Ragnarök15,000,000 19Baldur's Gate 315,000,000 20Palworld15,000,000 In second place is Hogwarts Legacy with 34.0 million, making the gap between #1 and #2 a sizable 14.2 million units. Hogwarts Legacy had the advantage of being tied to one of the world’s best-known franchises, Harry Potter, and delivered the open-world wizardry experience many fans had been waiting years for. After that, the leaderboard tightens dramatically: four different games sit at exactly 30.0 million units (Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Call of Duty: Vanguard). Nintendo Games Continue to Lead Sales Several of the best-sellers are instantly recognizable Nintendo franchises. With six games in the top 20 best-sellers since 2020, Nintendo continues to be a development and publishing powerhouse in the world of gaming. The six Nintendo titles together reached 144.7 million in sales, with no other singular publisher or developer coming close. The company’s continued refinement of well-established franchises like Pokemon, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda has proven fruitful, with the company still able to produce hits across genres. With the Nintendo Switch 2 console selling well since its June 2025 launch, Nintendo’s dominance doesn’t seem like it’s fading anytime soon. Learn More on the Voronoi App To learn more about the global video game industry, check out this graphic that breaks down video game revenue by country on Voronoi.

Mapped: A Snapshot of Global Migration See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources. Key Takeaways Global migration is at an all-time high, with 304 million people living outside their country of birth. A small number of destination countries dominate, with the U.S. hosting more migrants than the next four countries combined. Economic opportunity and crisis drive different migration patterns, from labor mobility in India and China to forced displacement from Ukraine, Syria, and Venezuela. Some economies depend fundamentally on migrants, particularly Gulf states where foreign-born workers make up the majority of the population. People have moved across the globe since time immemorial. In the modern era, migration is often driven by the pursuit of better economic opportunities, improved quality of life, or the desire to reunite with family. Yet when viewed in aggregate, migration becomes far more than a series of individual decisions. It is a complex global force that reshapes societies, economies, and cultures within countries around the world. This map visualization by Idwardi Ishak uses data from the United Nations and Migration Data Portal to show a snapshot of global migration in 2024. Global Migration Data by Country or Territory The below table breaks down total migrants by country or territory, as well as the percentage of migrants of the total population. RankCountry/TerritoryTotal Number of MigrantsMigrants as % of Total Population 1 United States52,375,04715.2 2 Germany16,750,08419.8 3 Saudi Arabia13,683,84140.3 4 United Kingdom11,845,47917.1 5 France9,186,75713.8 6 Spain8,870,52718.5 7 Canada8,805,83922.2 8 United Arab Emirates8,157,00074.0 9 Australia8,111,40430.4 10 Russia7,605,7745.3 11 Turkey7,083,5018.1 12 Italy6,553,67111.0 13 Jordan5,280,16845.7 14 Ukraine5,064,17313.4 15 India4,796,2550.3 16 Pakistan4,175,9581.7 17 Iran3,840,6544.2 18 Malaysia3,806,51410.7 19 Japan3,409,5292.8 20 Kuwait3,323,19167.4 21 Thailand3,179,3994.4 22 Colombia3,063,5185.8 23 Hong Kong3,063,31841.3 24 Netherlands2,956,51816.2 25 Bangladesh2,906,3381.7 26 Ivory Coast2,880,8399.0 27 Singapore2,841,66548.7 28 Switzerland2,773,84031.1 29 South Africa2,631,1004.1 30 Sudan2,397,1134.8 31 Belgium2,349,03220.0 32 Qatar2,337,00076.7 33 Austria2,327,06425.5 34 Oman2,283,36643.2 35 Sweden2,272,15821.4 36 Israel2,091,56922.3 37 Kazakhstan2,089,79710.2 38 Uganda2,057,7594.1 39 Argentina1,958,0394.3 40 Peru1,837,2195.4 41 South Korea1,811,5073.5 42 Poland1,739,9014.5 43 Mexico1,726,0891.3 44 China1,638,7180.1 45 Chile1,538,3247.8 46 New Zealand1,467,98928.2 47 Greece1,423,96414.2 48 Lebanon1,422,58324.5 49 Brazil1,406,2990.7 50 Nigeria1,403,2810.6 51 Chad1,269,6736.3 52 Venezuela1,263,3044.5 53 Ireland1,216,23723.1 54 Ethiopia1,168,4550.9 55 Uzbekistan1,154,9633.2 56 Egypt1,139,8201.0 57 Taiwan1,136,4254.9 58 Portugal1,127,18410.8 59 DR Congo1,085,0901.0 60 Belarus1,054,60411.6 61 Czech Republic1,025,1999.6 62 Norway1,012,40418.2 63 Kenya992,5361.8 64 South Sudan914,0017.7 65 Libya897,75112.2 66 Syria896,0423.6 67 Denmark847,47514.2 68 Bahrain840,20252.3 69 Ecuador747,7494.1 70 Burkina Faso739,8203.1 71 Dominican Republic738,6676.5 72 Serbia712,55010.6 73 Hungary689,5657.1 74 Angola676,5071.8 75 Romania655,5793.5 76 Cameroon642,9482.2 77 Costa Rica628,40412.3 78 Mali545,3232.2 79 Ghana532,2861.6 80 Croatia527,83113.6 81 Finland514,4329.2 82 Rwanda513,3163.6 83 Panama477,74910.6 84 Nepal470,7191.6 85 Tanzania462,3710.7 86 Gabon449,74617.7 87 Niger449,2361.7 88 Indonesia445,7260.2 89 Zimbabwe429,1082.6 90 Macau426,86259.3 91 Benin418,2022.9 92 Yemen392,9971.0 93 Burundi387,1012.8 94 Congo385,5896.1 95 Iraq370,9800.8 96 Mozambique353,1431.0 97 Luxembourg344,30951.2 98 Vietnam326,4180.3 99 Slovakia323,9915.9 100 Slovenia315,12214.9 101 Bulgaria299,1004.4 102 Togo281,9943.0 103 Senegal281,8671.5 104 Tajikistan276,7772.6 105 Armenia274,6459.2 106 Palestine272,4815.0 107 Algeria259,4580.6 108 Zambia249,2051.2 109 Equatorial Guinea248,93013.2 110 Gambia236,1378.6 111 Puerto Rico223,3236.9 112 Latvia220,47111.8 113 Azerbaijan218,4602.1 114 Estonia203,04614.9 115 Cyprus202,06214.9 116 Malta199,46637.0 117 Mauritania195,9373.8 118 Kyrgyzstan194,8162.7 119 Turkmenistan193,7632.6 120 Moldova188,2076.2 121 Malawi186,7190.9 122 Bolivia183,2341.5 123 Paraguay180,8372.6 124 Lithuania175,1946.1 125 Uruguay160,0644.7 126 North Macedonia150,9028.3 127 Mayotte143,52844.0 128 Réunion135,53415.4 129 French Guiana130,92442.4 130 Djibouti125,99610.8 131 Brunei119,93325.9 132 Guinea117,4160.8 133 Botswana116,4024.6 134 Namibia116,0353.8 135 Trinidad and Tobago113,4787.5 136 Morocco111,0690.3 137 Iceland98,81825.1 138 Afghanistan98,1100.2 139 Central African Republic94,5561.8 140 Guatemala92,7320.5 141 Montenegro92,23714.5 142 Guadeloupe89,61023.9 143 Philippines87,2120.1 144 Channel Islands85,53950.9 145 Guam84,15950.2 146 Cambodia83,9250.5 147 Georgia81,5822.1 148 Curaçao80,02043.1 149 Myanmar79,0520.2 150 Somalia77,9720.4 151 New Caledonia76,73826.2 152 Maldives75,09914.2 153 Aruba73,49468.0 154 Liberia72,4231.3 155 Belize68,70616.5 156 Martinique68,18719.9 157 Bahamas67,28516.8 158 Tunisia63,2010.5 159 U.S. Virgin Islands56,77966.9 160 Bhutan55,7057.0 161 Guyana54,1756.5 162 Suriname51,9028.2 163 Laos51,4460.7 164 North Korea50,4390.2 165 Sierra Leone49,9970.6 166 Andorra48,40859.1 167 Albania46,3771.7 168 Nicaragua43,7570.6 169 Isle of Man43,69351.9 170 El Salvador43,3420.7 171 Sri Lanka40,6980.2 172 Honduras39,9010.4 173 Madagascar38,6250.1 174 Barbados35,18712.5 175 Bosnia and Herzegovina34,1201.1 176 Eswatini33,2682.7 177 Cayman Islands31,93542.9 178 Papua New Guinea31,1710.3 179 Bonaire30,676100.0 180 Antigua and Barbuda30,47332.5 181 Sint Maarten30,14843.0 182 French Polynesia30,09910.7 183 Mauritius29,1422.3 184 Turks and Caicos Islands28,45561.1 185 Liechtenstein27,66969.4 186 Monaco27,10670.2 187 British Virgin Islands24,52062.1 188 Jamaica24,0070.9 189 American Samoa23,68450.6 190 Mongolia22,5890.7 191 Northern Mariana Islands22,00049.7 192 Bermuda20,17131.2 193 Haiti19,5810.2 194 Cape Verde16,5153.2 195 Guinea-Bissau15,0640.7 196 Lesotho15,0390.6 197 Fiji14,3621.6 198 Seychelles13,26110.2 199 Eritrea12,5120.4 200 Comoros12,4491.4 201 Gibraltar11,29128.7 202 Dominica8,44012.8 203 East Timor8,3030.6 204 Faroe Islands8,10114.6 205 Saint Lucia8,0794.5 206 Saint Kitts and Nevis7,95817.0 207 Grenada7,3406.3 208 Anguilla5,91840.5 209 San Marino5,83817.4 210 Greenland5,81210.4 211 Western Sahara5,6281.0 212 Palau5,21229.5 213 Cook Islands4,93736.0 214 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines4,8204.8 215 Samoa3,8431.8 216 Tonga3,5813.4 217 Vanuatu3,3151.0 218 Marshall Islands3,3098.8 219 Kiribati3,3022.5 220 Micronesia2,8942.6 221 Nauru2,54821.3 222 Solomon Islands2,4690.3 223 Falkland Islands2,33367.2 224 Cuba2,1440.0 225 Wallis and Futuna2,03218.0 226 São Tomé and Príncipe1,9550.8 227 Tokelau1,2823.0 228 Saint Pierre and Miquelon1,00817.9 229 Niue58832.3 230 Vatican City496100.0 231 Saint Helena4929.4 232 Tuvalu2462.6 As of 2024, the world’s migrant population has reached 304 million people, reflecting a steady rise in cross-border movement. The United States continues to stand apart as the world’s pre-eminent destination, hosting 52.4 million migrants, which is more than the next four destination countries combined. Other major recipients include Germany, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom, underscoring how advanced economies and energy-rich states rely heavily on foreign-born workers to sustain growth, fill labor shortages, and offset aging populations. Origin Stories: Where Global Migrants Come From Looking at where migrants come from tells a different story. India and China remain the largest sources of people living abroad, a reflection of their vast populations and deep integration into global labor markets. In these cases, migration is often driven by economic opportunity rather than displacement. By contrast, countries such as Ukraine, Syria, and Venezuela illustrate how conflict, political instability, and economic collapse can rapidly reshape migration flows. In these cases, migration is less a choice than a necessity, with sudden surges driven by crises that spill across borders. Where Migrants Make Up the Majority One of the most striking patterns in the data appears in the Gulf states. Countries like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait have some of the highest migrant-to-population ratios in the world, with foreign-born residents accounting for a majority of the workforce. These economies depend heavily on migrant labor across construction, services, and energy-related industries. Small island territories and city-states—such as Monaco, Luxembourg, and Singapore—also report exceptionally high shares of migrants, reflecting their openness, economic specialization, and limited domestic labor pools. At the other end of the spectrum, much of Africa and South America remains characterized by relatively modest levels of immigration when measured as a share of population. That said, internal and regional mobility is increasing, suggesting that migration pressures are shifting rather than disappearing. Migration as a Structural Force Taken together, the data depict a world in which migration is no longer the exception but the norm. Labor demand in wealthy nations, demographic aging, and persistent instability in parts of the developing world ensure that borders—however politicized—remain porous to people as well as to goods and capital. As governments grapple with immigration policy, the underlying forces driving migration continue to intensify, making it one of the defining economic and social dynamics of the 21st century. Learn More on the Voronoi App Which U.S. cities have the biggest migrant communities by share of population? See this map to find out.