Data Driven

Brent crude oil prices will average $65.15 per barrel in 2019 and $62 per barrel in 2020 according to the most recent forecast from the US Energy Information Administration's monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (EIA). This reflects an upward revision of $2.37 per barrel for 2019 compared to the previous estimate. The OECD Economic Outlook as of November 2018 is more bullish, pegging the real price of a barrel of Brent oil— i.e. price adjusted for inflation—at $80/barrel in 2019.Looking out to...

Global oil prices have fallen by more than 30 percent since the summer of 2014, affecting oil producers and consumers alike. This dashboard presents oil price dynamics and the breakeven oil prices—minimum oil price to cover general government expenditures—over the past decade as well as a snapshot of the marginal cost of oil production by country in 2014. A world oil price in the range of $55 to $60 per barrel is less than the cost of Russian Arctic oil production, European and Brazilian...

Today Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 27,339 retail locations as of the first quarter of 2018, followed distantly by such coffee shop chains as Dunkin Donuts with about 10,000 restaurants, Tim Hortons with 4,300 outlets, and Costa Coffee with nearly 1,700 stores worldwide. Starbucks was founded in 1971 in Seattle, Washington, and incorporated on November 4, 1985 to become the publicly traded Starbucks Corporation. Based on the company's positive, sustained...

Millenials have overtaken Babyboomers by nearly 4 million to become the largest generation in the United States. With a current population of around 79 million, the Millenial generation is expected to grow to 81 million over the next 20 years because of migration, according to the US Census Bureau's latest estimates. The boundaries that define generations are not universally agreed, and yet these boundaries carry important implications in business and government. The size, financial security,...

Over the last three years, car sales in the US market have set new all-time records and included a collection of manufacturers that extends well beyond the American classics. In 2015, vehicle sales in the US reached nearly 17.5 million units, a growth of 5.7 percent from 2014 and 25,000 more vehicles than the record setting sales in 2005. The year 2000 marked a turning point in the US auto industry: it was the last year that General Motors and Ford Motor Company combined made up at least 50...

In this dashboard, we have integrated the most recent medium and long-term forecasts of key economic indicators for G20 countries from major international organizations, namely, the World Bank, IMF, United Nations, OECD, European Commission and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The data presented covers projections of real GDP growth, characterizing each country's output of final goods and services; consumer price inflation, as a measure of price level movements; unemployment rate, or percent of...

According to the 2016 Forbes Billionaires List, the aggregate wealth of the world's 1,810 billionaires is approximately $6.5 trillion, exceeding the GDP of Japan, the world's third largest economy with a GDP of $4.4 trillion. In other words, the wealth of 0.00002% of the world's population accounts for 9 percent of the world's GDP of about $74 trillion. How do we measure the net worth of a billionaire? The estimate is based on total asset value, including stakes in public and private...

Bitcoin is one of the world's most popular digital currencies, meaning that it is exclusively created and held electronically. But, what do we actually know about digital currencies and the potential of these currencies to replace conventional money? Like conventional money, the major function of a digital currency is to serve as a means of payment, whether that is in exchange for goods or real currency, such as dollars and euros. In addition, similar to how a normal currency's exchange rate...

According to the latest BP Statistical Review of World Energy, total global reserves, by fossil fuel, are now: Coal - 1,139 billion tonnes Natural Gas - 187 trillion cubic meters Crude Oil - 1,707 billion barrels While these volumes may seem large at a glance, at today's level of extraction and production rates, BP's estimated proved reserves*, by fossil fuel, would be exhausted as follows: Coal - year 2169 Natural Gas - year 2068 Crude Oil - year 2066 BP dutifully acknowledges the...

The Big Mac Index invented by The Economist is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies. Calculation of PPPs is based on the assumption that the dollar cost for a Big Mac in a particular country would be the same as in the United States. The indicator is chosen by The Economist magazine, as a measure of PPP, is based on the fact that the ingredients used in the preparation of Big Mac are the same over the globe, and hence variation in dollar cost in...

There are 1,426 billionaires in the world this year. They are the wealthiest of the wealthy. But only 29 members of this elite list are under 40 years old, with that exciting combination of money and youth. Those 29 have a total of $119 billion between them. Ten come from the technology sector, including four from social networking giant Facebook .

McDonald's and Subway are two of the world's largest international fast food restaurant chains. Each company possesses a strong brand and is an established name in the casual eating restaurant industry. With 44,805 locations worldwide, Subway beats out McDonald's as the largest global chain. McDonald's currently has 36,525 locations globally. So, what's behind this difference in global positioning? And, are the differences meaningful beyond number of restaurants? The most important general...

Along with its cultural, leisure and recreational functions tourism contributes significantly (both directly and indirectly) to the world's economy and employment. It contributes to GDP even more than the automotive industry in all the regions throughout the globe: three times as much in Americas and two times as much in Europe, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council's 2017 research. In many countries tourism is the key source of jobs for their population. Thus, in Macau, one of...

With its extensive business network, Sweden-based multinational retail-clothing company H&M has become one of the world's leading fashion companies. H&M had a total of 3,924 stores by the end of 2015, expanding its global reach to 61 countries across six continents including e-commerce in 23 of them. Last year the company added 16,000 employees to its roster of designers, pattern makers, buyers and other staff, increasing the total number of H&M employees to 148,000. The first...

Global Firepower (GFP) provides a unique analytical display of data concerning today's world military powers. Over 100 world powers are considering in the ranking which allows for a broad spectrum of comparisons to be achieved concerning relative military strengths. The Global Firepower ranking is based strictly on each nations potential conventional war-making capabilities across land, sea and air. The nuclear capability is not taken into account. The final ranking also incorporates values...

Since the 1950s, the BP Statistical Review of World Energy has delivered objective and globally consistent data on world energy markets. The publication has become a widely respected and authoritative publication in the field of energy economics, relied on by media outlets, academia, world governments, and energy companies alike. BP publishes a new edition each June and typically conducts a road show to launch the report in the months preceding the official release. The 2018 edition...

According to World Bank Group, more than one fifth of the population of the developing world lives in extreme poverty, that is, lives with incomes below the threshold of $1.9 a day, constituting about 1.2 billion people. Although these disturbing figures, world has achieved impressive results in poverty reduction during the last 3 decades, even surpassing the expectations of the first Millennium Development Goal of reducing extreme poverty twofold: since 1981 the number of extremely poor people...

New York with more then 8 million people (according to 2010 Census) is the largest city in the United States. Besides New York there are 8 US cities which population exceed 1 million persons: Los Angeles (CA), Chicago (IL), Houston (TX), Philadelphia (PA), Phoenix (AZ), San Antonio (TX), San Diego (CA) and Dallas (TX). Over 160 milion people live in 5000 largest cities of the US.

Are you investing in the best economies for your industry's footprint? What factors weigh most heavily on your investment decisions? Is your economy improving in areas that matters most to investors? Economists, investors, and other analysts worldwide rely on multi-economy datasets from the likes of the World Bank and IMF as well as indices to make comparisons across time and countries and address these sorts of questions. The Global Opportunity Index (GOI) developed by the Milken Institute...

People in Honduras, Salvador, Jamaica, Venezuela, and Guatemala have the highest probability to be shot and killed. A comparison between the rate of homicide by firearms and socio-economic indicators shows a correlation between high rates of income inequality and higher rates of homicide by firearms. Countries with GINI coefficients exceeding 0.45 are at higher risk of homicide by firearm.

Corporate growth strategies typically include some combination of deepening existing market penetration and new product and market development. New market entry through acquisitions, greenfield investment, joint venture or other forms are considered generally to be the most controllable ways to drive business growth. And, many emerging markets, such as Brazil, India, Argentina, with their growing middle-classes are attractive targets for these growth strategies. With the ever-increasing...

Global motor-vehicles production continues to flactuate: dramatic decrease of growth rate in 2011 changed to slight upturn in 2012, which is yet significantly lower than it was in 2010. Western Europe keep on loosing its share in world automobiles production as car-producers tend to close their European plants becaure of overcapacity in Europe. Meanwhile Asia, preceded by China, gradually expands its gain, as well as North America, where vehicles production almost doubled during last 4 years....

Since India was under British rule, the rupee was pegged to the British pound. From 1927 to 1966, 13 rupees = 1 pound. The peg was maintained until 1966 when the rupee was devalued and pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 7.5 rupees = 1 dollar. This peg lasted until the U.S. dollar was devalued in 1971.

Constantly increasing globalization and integration of the world, often emphasized in the modern times, is carried out mostly through merchandise trade. Nowadays, wide variety of goods are involved in merchandise trade, but traditional ones, such as fuels, mining products, machinery and transport still remain most tradable. International trade of services, including transport, tourism and financial services, is also gaining momentum headed by the US as the world leader in exports and imports of...

Throughout modern history the postal industry has played a role in connecting people, businesses, and governments around the world. Today we’re witnessing a decline and reinvention in the traditional mail delivery business as fast (and in some cases free) e-commerce options emerge. The Office for National Statistics for the UK reported that online sales made up 18 percent of total retail sales nationally during 2018. High growth rates were also reported in research from IMRG and Capgemini,...

No matter your opinion on the prospect of digital currencies replacing traditional fiat currencies, the fact is that central banks and investors now find themselves evaluating the benefits of and exposure to cryptocurrencies. Today we’re focusing on the market and environmental implications of the large power requirements to mine bitcoin tokens and conduct digital currency transactions in a fossil-fuel dominated world. According to estimates by Dutch bank ING, one bitcoin transaction typically...

The population of China currently exceeds the population of India by approximately 70 million, according to estimates from the United Nations. The UN's World Population Prospects report puts the population of China at 1.38 billion, compared to 1.31 billion for India. Other sources' estimates of current population range from 1.37 to 1.40 billion for China and from 1.28 to 1.31 billion for India. Just as current population estimates differ, so do forecasts as to when the difference in the...

The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) is a global study on the basis of which ranking of countries in terms of economic competitiveness in the world is formed. The World Economic Forum defines competitiveness as the ability of the country and its institutions to ensure stable economic growth, which would be stable in the medium term. GCI is determined by numerous and very diverse factors which were divided into three subindexes: Basic requirements, Efficiency enhancers, Innovation and...

Ecuador has the world's highest share of nascent entrepreneurs per capita at about 30 percent of the population. This measure is known as total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA). But, does this mean that Ecuador is more entrepreneurial than the United States, which has a TEA of only 14 percent? The answer depends on how we define “entrepreneur”. One key global economic growth driver is the ability of an entrepreneur to bring a concept to market, adding to national income, providing...

During the first quarter of 2019 (Apple’s second fiscal quarter), sales of the Apple iPhone decreased by 17 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Since announcing its results for the second fiscal quarter, Apple's share price has also dropped six percent. The iPhone first quarter results were neither unexpected or the steepest decreases in iPhone revenues the company has faced. Apple reported more dramatic decreases in iPhone revenues during the second and third quarters of 2016...

The United States rank last in child income poverty, has the largest difference in P90/P10, and has the highest percentage of people living below 50% median income.

Select the indicator and choose countries from the ranking lists to compare the countries

Precipitated by the steep decline in global oil prices, the non-OPEC* active rig count fell in June to a new multi-year low at roughly 1,600 rigs, a 46 percent decrease since the end of 2014. The severity of the decline in drilling activity varies among countries and producing regions. While the United States and other developed countries have decreased dramatically the number of active rigs throughout the first half of 2015, the total number of active rigs among OPEC members has remained...

Have you ever wondered whether cattle rearing or car driving contributes more to the increase in greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the Earth’s atmosphere, thus exacerbating global warming? Look no further than today’s Viz of the Day, which provides insights on this issue courtesy of a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization. The data clearly indicates that the modern livestock sector contributes more significantly to global warming than the whole of the transport sector. Among...

Housing represents a growing source of budgetary pressure for Americans, and the data suggests American's desire for space is at least partially to blame. In 2017, housing represented 33 percent of total US household expenditures, with rent and mortgage—as compared to other household expenses like furnishings and utilities—making up about 60 percent of the household budget, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Renters have been particularly hard hit, with more than 40 percent...

Research and Development (R&D) is the field of statistics comprising data on science, technology and innovation. This data is of great significance in the modern economy as it helps to build broad and comprehensive vision of innovation activity that is acknowledged by the most of developed and developing countries as the key driver behind the economic growth and competitiveness. That is why, policymakers try to induce innovation activity by focusing on the role of technology, information...

In 2016, Germany, Thailand, and Hong Kong were the top destinations for international travelers while China and the United States accounted for roughly one-third of total tourism expenditures worldwide, according to the World Tourism Organization. But, as people typically visit specific cities within a country, and not the entire country, it is far more interesting to examine city-level tourism statistics. The Global Destination Cities Index, which includes city-level data on the number of...

The United States is often criticized for its perceived nonchalance toward air pollution despite persistent statements to the contrary by the current presidential administration. The US remains the number one contributor globally to harmful chemicals in the air, with the fossil-fuel consuming transportation industry being a primary emission source. With more than 250 million vehicles on US roads, the US surpasses even China based on total vehicles in use despite China's much larger...

Which is the world's largest economy, China or the United States? As is usual in the field of economics, “It depends.” It depends on the methods used to estimate the size of an economy and to compare one economy to another. Despite modern discussions on refining the calculation of gross domestic product (GDP), the standard measure of an economy’s size and performance, to be more inclusive of economic factors that have been ignored to date, such as environmental and natural resource depletion,...

During the last 10 years, a small group of emerging economies in Asia have supported the growth in total global steel production. While India and South Korea have contributed, production from China overwhelmingly leads globally. Accounting for half of global steel production, analysts worldwide monitor China's monthly production figures closely for signs of economic strength but also to gauge forward pricing expectations based on global demand and the production response of competing mills...

While mainstream media outlets globally may be focused on the relationship between climate change and extreme weather, crop performance, and infrastructure resilience, economists and business strategists alike are turning toward greener measures and outlooks of economic performance. The 2018 Global Green Economy Index (GGEI) by Dual Citizen LLC is one of several initiatives—others include the Green Growth Knowledge Platform and the UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy—working to...

Personal safety, as a basic human need, is encapsulated globally in national legislation and international accords, all with the aim of maintaining public order and safety. While definitions of law and order may vary by country—and with it the tasks assigned to security forces—the source of funding is nearly universally taxpayers. Every taxpayer thereby has the right to know whether these public expenditures are effective. In today’s viz we explore the efficiency of public safety expenditures...

The World Series is the annual championship held every October by Major League Baseball (MLB). It pits the champion of the American League (AL) against the champion of the National League (NL) in a best-of-7 matchup. A little over two months into the new season, the relative strength of the 30 teams is beginning to come into focus and fans' dreams for their teams to reach the World Series are being tainted by the reality of the season. So, in today's Viz of the Day, we've brought you data for a...

In early 2015, the Google Play Market became the largest mobile application platform, surpassing Apple App Store by number of available applications. The Google Play Store currently offers 2,127,612 Android apps. The 2 million milestone was reached in March, 2.5 years after passing the 1 million threshold in July 2013. In April, 58,467 new apps were released in the official Google app store, although the monthly average is closer to 40,000 new apps. Android Market, the former name for Google...

HUMAN DEVELOPEMENT INDEX (HDI) - is a composite index which includes health, education, income, livelihood security and other indicators. In other words, HDI is an indicator showig how successfull are achievenemts in three main fields of human development: healthy life, knowledge and decent standard of living. The chief aim of HDI is to provide nations with comprehensive measure of environment they provide for their people in terms of opportunites for personal fulfilment. The higher the HDI the...

Housing affordability and its impact on middle-income households worldwide is emerging as a major concern throughout the developed world. According to the London-based consultancy Knight Frank, housing prices in the world's largest cities rose by 3 percent on average during the last year. The strongest growth was observed in Turkey where average housing prices increased by 18 percent in the last year. In contrast, across the Black Sea in the Ukraine, property prices declined by 12 percent last...

Bitcoins, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, commonly known as "digital gold", are gaining exposure globally through various media outlets even though very few countries officially recognize cryptocurrency as legal currency. Official national-level regulatory positions relative to cryptocurrency may be separated into three main groups: totally against, legalized, and uncertain. The most interesting situation is uncertain because of the market basis at stake if governments turn away from...

Food security is a situation in which all people of a country at any moment of time have physical and economic access to the amount of health and nutritious food enough to keep a healthy and active lifestyle. So, it is an ideal condition to which every country should continuously tend and this tendency should be the chief aim of national agricultural and economic policy. Since the policy should be based on something, measuring and collecting data on food security is the first step towards...

The 2017 Global Peace Index reflects the reality of war and peace today with Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq ranking as the least peaceful countries of the 161 evaluated for the index. The United States experienced the greatest decline in the index since last year, slipping 11 places to rank 114th, directly following Armenia and Rwanda and preceding El Salvador and China. But, what’s in the index? The Global Peace Index is comprised of 23 indicators grouped into three broad themes: the level of...

During the first two months of 2019, 74,000 cases of measles were reported globally. A highly contagious, virus borne illness, measles is transmitted through the air, such as when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Of the cases in early 2019, nearly half occurred in January in the African island country of Madagascar (36,869 cases). The official figure for Madagascar in February was down to 10,328 new cases.Europe and South America have been largely spared from new measles cases in 2019....