The World as 100 People Over the Last Two Centuries
More than 9 out of 10 people do not think that the world is getting better. How does that fit with the empirical evidence?
This visualization imagines our 200-year history as the history of a group of 100 people to see how the lives of them would have changed if they lived through this transformative period of the modern world. It shows at once some of the very largest problems we face and the progress that the last generations have made.
Dataset
Entity | Year | $30 a day - Number not in poverty (Smoothed) | $10-$30 - Number in poverty (Smoothed) | $5-$10 - Number in poverty (Smoothed) | $1.90-$5 - Number in poverty (Smoothed) | $1.90 a day - Number in poverty (Smoothed) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
World | 1820 | 537628 | 7143444 | 29523314 | 169391904 | 794510917 |
World | 1830 | 585831 | 8085936 | 33032595 | 181653002 | 851972581 |
World | 1840 | 576336 | 9229552 | 37482730 | 188946658 | 889888153 |
World | 1850 | 485850 | 10391368 | 42552653 | 197089462 | 921709511 |
World | 1860 | 874791 | 14710723 | 49955096 | 206453158 | 918913757 |
World | 1870 | 1750428 | 20549919 | 57874647 | 222033767 | 932738016 |
World | 1880 | 2129437 | 27537884 | 72213691 | 249911840 | 960484161 |
World | 1890 | 3057339 | 40823876 | 94607477 | 300269990 | 984556622 |
World | 1900 | 5009029 | 56948415 | 116256349 | 351322715 | 1003118531 |
World | 1910 | 11633345 | 83704179 | 144523318 | 424909500 | 1048021179 |
World | 1920 | 15460822 | 110103902 | 169525501 | 453016439 | 1101719442 |
World | 1930 | 22298407 | 135647386 | 200386650 | 500767959 | 1155943907 |
World | 1940 | 26559130 | 164059989 | 234456142 | 599876339 | 1208816805 |
World | 1950 | 62560937 | 221379700 | 253513075 | 641816469 | 1347646043 |
World | 1960 | 99194870 | 326492339 | 373036995 | 714894165 | 1528357605 |
World | 1970 | 188787349 | 544467001 | 432348469 | 691633087 | 1827633088 |
World | 1980 | 407363050 | 774477988 | 420847029 | 810123074 | 2039792780 |
World | 1981 | 417396285 | 776004944 | 421371422 | 916951493 | 1986783909 |
World | 1982 | 422257594 | 776744633 | 433797145 | 977969346 | 1981925720 |
World | 1983 | 430665087 | 776413412 | 433812335 | 1068287975 | 1972120282 |
World | 1984 | 440982850 | 770914352 | 454151696 | 1195345579 | 1901089349 |
World | 1985 | 456112864 | 777262363 | 466971726 | 1340988170 | 1802762559 |
World | 1986 | 480419803 | 784885036 | 490147573 | 1401974300 | 1764740811 |
World | 1987 | 491206425 | 786675500 | 496132588 | 1469106550 | 1758289520 |
World | 1988 | 516022373 | 785156507 | 500448462 | 1461068145 | 1821371194 |
World | 1989 | 538232618 | 767943656 | 510961424 | 1471452360 | 1891229486 |
World | 1990 | 548829472 | 761983601 | 540843814 | 1513385260 | 1910112534 |
World | 1991 | 550884840 | 749493376 | 567098240 | 1582580269 | 1901953666 |
World | 1992 | 561451735 | 743673274 | 582732088 | 1678402417 | 1880659686 |
World | 1993 | 562893434 | 716896112 | 614625113 | 1789440814 | 1846386629 |
World | 1994 | 580649274 | 719819840 | 623858243 | 1855594089 | 1819230274 |
World | 1995 | 601414975 | 729929809 | 653011611 | 1953349004 | 1745716482 |
World | 1996 | 614776947 | 720966438 | 699091609 | 2095035060 | 1645955501 |
World | 1997 | 629190862 | 724787203 | 728181515 | 2095548655 | 1680855643 |
World | 1998 | 642466083 | 732950900 | 741638980 | 2075906428 | 1746762032 |
World | 1999 | 654311918 | 718489746 | 776556363 | 2208844532 | 1667136985 |
World | 2000 | 686546498 | 742452155 | 823760439 | 2250529946 | 1626546144 |
World | 2001 | 701863157 | 762384505 | 875095553 | 2286021210 | 1574685701 |
World | 2002 | 712058818 | 796170088 | 946531789 | 2311916757 | 1498777807 |
World | 2003 | 737521610 | 821435366 | 978363142 | 2341325622 | 1476842145 |
World | 2004 | 756378069 | 874049928 | 1030398010 | 2386773280 | 1366239327 |
World | 2005 | 781003780 | 939726754 | 1088931859 | 2434746826 | 1273831209 |
World | 2006 | 802424660 | 995158835 | 1128799631 | 2412749814 | 1247193794 |
World | 2007 | 849914034 | 1051294783 | 1183788085 | 2416837164 | 1177715964 |
World | 2008 | 853227365 | 1129951862 | 1204577662 | 2411203196 | 1173305689 |
World | 2009 | 857695735 | 1182868301 | 1262027971 | 2437688593 | 1118225241 |
World | 2010 | 900304735 | 1246190841 | 1317083850 | 2453903465 | 1022764112 |
World | 2011 | 919622004 | 1335491329 | 1379665434 | 2465853784 | 943234479 |
World | 2012 | 933892291 | 1416710175 | 1420627336 | 2458092796 | 888306249 |
World | 2013 | 952120466 | 1514087349 | 1521889518 | 2458039093 | 763719510 |
World | 2014 | 974634657 | 1594623920 | 1579875498 | 2422721649 | 738881684 |
World | 2015 | 1008244711 | 1655402710 | 1621409508 | 2373553159 | 789912203 |
World | 2016 | 1043825082 | 1703662655 | 1651225958 | 2416951245 | 721120241 |
World | 2017 | 1061663145 | 1773498635 | 1697235300 | 2467193642 | 719587014 |
World | 2018 | 1097261334 | 1825109097 | 1750841555 | 2478844936 | 674183499 |
Data sources
Max Roser (2016) - “The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it” Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions' [Online Resource] See the full list of sources and underlaying data at the source URL.