The Ledger
The world, in numbers that got better
One measurable thing per page, told by the long run of the data. The datasets are public and linked under every chart.
Entry 01
1800 → 2024
Far fewer children die before their fifth birthday
Entry 02
1990 → 2024
Extreme poverty has more than halved since 1990
Entry 03
1975 → 2024
Solar panels cost a tiny fraction of what they used to
Entry 04
1820 → 2024
Most of the world can now read and write
Entry 05
1967 → 1980
Smallpox is the first human disease ever eradicated
Entry 06
1981 → 2023
Polio has been pushed to the edge of extinction
Entry 07
1770 → 2023
A person born today can expect to live far longer
Entry 08
1998 → 2023
Nearly everyone on Earth now has electricity
Entry 09
2001 → 2022
Reading a human genome went from tens of millions of dollars to a few hundred
Entry 10
1870 → 2020
The average adult now spends years in school, not months
Entry 11
1985 → 2020
A mother's risk of dying in childbirth has roughly halved since 1985
Entry 12
2004 → 2024
Annual AIDS deaths have fallen by more than two-thirds since their peak
Entry 13
2000 → 2024
Nearly three-quarters of the world now has safely managed drinking water
Entry 14
1900 → 2020
Your odds of dying in a natural disaster have fallen sharply in a century
Entry 15
1300 → 2023
Light stopped being a luxury and became almost free
Entry 16
2000 → 2024
Fewer people go hungry than a generation ago
Entry 17
1989 → 2025
Guinea worm is close to becoming the second disease ever wiped out
Entry 18
2000 → 2022
Fewer adults around the world use tobacco
Entry 19
1950 → 2023
Fewer children per woman, as childbearing becomes a choice
Entry 20
1989 → 2021
The world nearly eliminated the chemicals that were destroying the ozone layer
Entry 21
1980 → 2024
Most of the world's children now get the measles vaccine
Entry 22
1980 → 2024
Most children now get the full course of the DTP vaccine
Entry 23
2000 → 2024
The world's oldest great killer takes far fewer lives
Entry 24
1990 → 2024
A newborn's first month is far less deadly than it was
Entry 25
2005 → 2024
Most of humanity is now online
Entry 26
2000 → 2024
Three-quarters of the world now cooks with clean fuel
Entry 27
2000 → 2024
Open defecation has become rare
Entry 28
2000 → 2024
More of the world has a safe, private toilet
Entry 29
1991 → 2024
Batteries cost a fraction of what they did
Entry 30
1985 → 2025
Wind and solar went from nothing to a sixth of the world's power
Entry 31
1996 → 2024
New HIV infections have fallen far below their peak
Entry 32
1986 → 2026
The world's nuclear arsenals are far smaller than at their peak
Entry 33
2000 → 2024
Most people with HIV are now on treatment
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