The Magnitude of Things: Noteworthy Facts and Figures About the World

Jul 1, 2021 · 1997 words · 4-minute read #data #economics #politics #business #china #social science research #us #uk #cross-country comparisons #continuously updated

This page documents facts and figures I find noteworthy about the world. It will be continuously updated.

Contents

FAQ

  1. How do you decide what to include?

I include what I find surprising. My academic training is in economics, politics, and statistics, and I spent my formative years in China, the U.S., and the U.K.

  1. What is the point of remembering the facts if we can easily find the answers on the Internet?

I believe that remembering facts and statistics allows us to draw unexpected connections and better calibrate new information. I also hope that this exercise will help me build better intuitions about large numbers (e.g. “100 million people,” “10 billion dollars”).

  1. How do you define x (life expectancy, minable quantity, monthly active users, etc.)?

Since this document is a high-level summary, I’m not able to provide detailed explanation on definitions. I’ve tried to make the numbers comparable where possible. Please refer to the linked sources for precise definitions.

Arithmetic

  • Number of years for something to double: 72 / annual growth rate
  • Earthquake scale: Richter is a base-ten log scale, i.e. a 9.0 earthquake is 10x stronger than a 8.0 one
  • Currency/unit conversion
    • CNY 1 yi (亿) = CNY 10^8 = CNY 100m = USD 15m
    • CNY 1 wanyi (万亿) = CNY 1 zhao (兆) = CNY 10^12 = CNY 1 trillion = USD 155b

Demography

Population

World total: 8b

Countries and Regions

Most populous:

  • 1.5b/1500m: China (mainland), India – 1 in 5 people in the world
  • 300m: U.S., Indonesia – 1 in 20
  • 200m: Pakistan, Brazil, Nigeria, Bangladesh – 1 in 50
  • 100m: Russia, Mexico, Japan, Ethiopia, Philippines, Egypt, Vietnam, the DRC – 1 in 100

Sweden: 10m, 2x that of Denmark, Norway, and Finland

South Korea: 50m, 1/2 that of Japan, 2x that of Taiwan

Hong Kong: 8m

Singapore: 6m

Cities

Most populous cities (metropolitan area):

  • 40m: Tokyo
  • 30m: Delhi
  • 25m: Shanghai
  • 20m: Beijing, New York City, Mexico City, Sao Paulo

East Asia: Seoul 10m, HK 8m, Singapore 5m

Number of cities with 1m+ people: China: 100, India: 40, U.S.: 10

Fertility

Child Per Woman

Replacement rate: 2.1

  • South Korea: 2020 CPW 1.1; population declined for the first time in 2020
  • Taiwan: 2020 CPW 1.1; population declined for the first time in 2020
  • Japan: 2020 CPW 1.4; population declined for the 9th straight year in 2020
  • China (mainland): 2020 CPW 1.3; population declined for the first time in 2020
  • U.S.: 2020 CPW 1.6

Immigration

Percent Foreign-Born

  • 7%: Finland
  • 15%: U.S., U.K., Germany, and Norway
  • 20%: Canada and Sweden
  • 30%: Australia

Life Expectancy at Birth

World (2020)

  • Mean and median: 73 years
    • Countries with this level of life expectancy: Venezuela, Vietnam, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Bhutan
  • Max: Japan (84)
  • Min: Lesotho (51)
  • Growth
    • 20% growth since 1970 (57 years)
    • 2x growth since 1910 (35 years)
  • Countries below 60:
    • Chad, Kiribati, Mozambique, Eswatini, Somalia, the Central African Republic, Lesotho

By Country (2000 vs 2019)

  • China: 72 and 77
  • India: 62 and 71
  • Sweden: 80 and 82
  • U.S.: 77 and 79
  • Japan: 81 and 84
  • South Korea: 76 and 83

China by Place of Household Registration (hukou)

U.S. Regional

  • By state: 74 (WV and MS) to 81 (MN, NY, CA, HI)
  • Education gaps wider than racial gaps

Education

Share of 25-64 Year-Olds with Tertiary Education (2019)

  • 60%: Canada, Russia
  • 50%: Japan, Israel, South Korea, U.S., U.K., Australia
  • 40%: France
  • 30%: Germany, Poland
  • 20%: Italy, Brazil, Mexico
  • 11%: China, India

Gender Gap (2019)

  • Countries where the Male % > Female %: South Korea, Switzerland, Germany
  • Countries where the Female % > Male %: most OECD countries
  • Countries with the largest gender gap: Estonia (Female 51% - Male 31% = 20pp)
  • India (25-34 year olds): 16% male, 12% female

Macroeconomics

GDP per capita (PPP)

  • 100k: Singapore
  • 80k: Switzerland
  • 70k: U.S.
  • 60k: Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan
  • 50k: Canada, France, U.K., South Korea, Japan
  • 40k: Beijing and Shanghai, Estonia, Portugal (median European levels)
  • 30k: Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Latvia, Poland, Turkey, Malaysia, Russia
  • 20k: China (mainland), Argentina (top in Latin America), Bostwana (top in Africa), world average
  • 10k: Brazil (world median), Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Vietnam, the Philippines, India
  • 5k: Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Myanmar, Kenya
  • 1k: the DRC, the Central African Republic, Somalia, Burundi

GDP Composition

GDP Growth

Gross Savings (% of GDP)

  • U.K.: 14%
  • U.S.: 19%
  • Japan: 28%
  • India: 30%
  • China: 44%

Retail Sales

Market Size (2021)

E-Commerce as a Percentage of Total Sales (2021)

Labor Force Participation

Inequality

Global Inequality
  • Country of birth explains 70% of one’s income
Top 1% Wealth Share (2015)
  • 40%: Russia,
  • 35%: U.S.
  • 30%: China, India
  • 20%: U.K., France
Top 1% Wealth Share (2000 vs. 2015)
  • China: 20% vs. 30%
  • Largely unchanged in other major economies
Top 1% Income Share (2015)
  • 20%: U.S., Russia
  • 15%: China, India
  • 10%: U.K., France
Top 1% Income Share (2000 vs. 2015)
  • Largely unchanged in major economies
  • World: 30% vs. 20%
Top 10% Income Share (1900 - 2020)
  • 1900 - 1940: ~40 - 50% in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.
  • 1940 - 1980: ~30% in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.; World 60% in 1980
  • 2020: 35% in Europe, 40% in Japan, 50% in the U.S., China 40%, World 55%

Infrastructure

Railways

  • 800 miles / 1,200 km
    • New York City to Chicago: 20h, $100
    • Beijing to Shanghai: 5h, $50

Business

Cost Structure

Restaurant
  • 30% - 35%: labor
  • 30% - 35%: food
  • 30%: fixed costs, insurance, overhead
  • 10% left

(source 1; source 2)

Large Numbers

Industries
Capital expenditure of public companies (2021)
  • Amazon: $45b
  • TSMC, Intel, Facebook, Microsoft: $20b
COVID Vaccines
  • Warp Speed
    • Total: $18b
    • Moderna: $2.5b (in exchange for options to purchase doses at $16.50 each)

Social Media

Money

  • Revenue and Profit
    • ByteDance (2020): $37b revenue (70% ads, 20% live-streaming, 3% e-commerce), gross margin 50%
    • Facebook (2020): $85b revenue (97% ads), gross margin 80%

People

Subscription Services

Number of Paying Subscribers (2021)

  • Amazon Prime 200m
  • Netflix 200m
  • Spotify 150m
  • Disney+ 100m
  • Hulu 40m
  • YouTube Premium 30m
  • Nintendo Switch Online 30m
  • Xbox Game Pass 20m
  • HBO 20m
  • ESPN+ 10m
  • Peloton 4m
  • NYT 6m
  • Washington Post 3m
  • WSJ 2m
  • FT 1m

Churn

[section under construction]

Audio

Money
  • Revenue and Profit
    • Spotify (2020): $9b (90% from subscriptions), gross margin 25%
    • Tencent Music (2020): $4b (70% from live-streaming and karaoke, 20% from subscriptions), gross margin 30%
Users
Spotify % of MAUs with Podcast Engagement
  • 2020Q1: 19%
  • 2020Q2: 20%
  • 2020Q3: 22%
  • 2020Q4: 25%
  • 2021Q1: “consistent with Q4 levels”
  • 2021Q2: “improved modestly relative to Q1”

Automotive

China accounted for 75% of the growth in the period 2010 to 2020.

Industry Total (2019)
  • Units sold: 91m
    • China: 25m, 28%
    • U.S.: 17m, 20%
    • Europe: 17m, 20%
General Motors (GM)
  • Total: 8m
  • China: 3.1m, 40%
  • U.S.: 2.9m, 40%
Volkswagen (VW)
  • Total: 11m
  • Europe and others: 5m
  • North America: 1m
  • Asia Pacific: 4.5m
    • China: 4m, 35%

Porsche (VW Brand):

  • Total: 277k total (+2% yoy)
  • China: 87k (30% of total, +8% yoy)

Ford:

  • Total: 10m (-16% yoy)
  • China: 1m (10% of total, -26% yoy)

Electric Vehicles

  • China: State Council plans to increase the sale of electric and hybrid vehicles to 20% of new car sales (~5 million units/year)
    • Current sales: 1.4m in 2020, 5% of total units sold

[more to come]

Apparel

[section under construction]

Finance

Robinhood 2021Q1 Revenue Source
  • 38% options
  • 26% equities
  • 17% cryptocurrencies
Most Recent 10,000 Comments on Reddit in June 2021
  • 6%: r/wallstreetbets
  • 1%: r/dogecoin, r/WallStreetBetsELITE
  • <1% but among the top 25 subreddits: r/SatoshiStreetBets, r/amcstock
U.K. Payment Volumes
  • Total: 39b in 2018
    • 40% by debit cards (became available in the 1980s; overtook cash in 2017)
    • 30% by cash
    • 10% by credit cards

Public Health

Firearm (Gun) Violence: Deaths Per 100k People in 2019

World
  • Lowest (0.01 - 0.07): Singapore, Japan, China, South Korea, Oman, U.K., Indonesia, Iceland, Romania, Norway
  • U.S.: 4
  • Highest: El Salvador (37), Venezuela (33), Guatemala (30), Colombia (26), Brazil (22), Bahamas (22), Honduras (20), Mexico (16), Belize (16), Trinidad and Tobago (16)
  • World median: 2 (data only available in ~70 countries)
U.S.

Leading Causes of Death

  • U.S.
    • 650k: Heat disease
    • 600k: Cancer
    • 160k: Chronic lower respiratory diseases
    • 150k: Stroke
    • 125k: Alzheimer’s
    • 40k: Gun deaths, vehicle accidents

Politics

Language

English Language

Words Whose Abstract Meanings Came Before the Concrete

  • Sloth: disinclination to action or labor
  • Engine: ingenuity; evil contrivance
  • Parasite: a person who exploits the hospitality of the rich and earns welcome by flattery
  • Gravity: dignity or sobriety of bearing

Words Whose Meanings Changed

  • “Condescension” had a positive connotation in the mid-17th century, meaning “voluntary descent from one’s rank or dignity in relations with an inferior”

Words that Went from Technical to Mainstream

  • Diagnose
  • Aggravate: to make worse (of symptoms) –> to annoy
  • Myopic: near-sightedness –> lacking foresight
  • Brainstorm: impulsive insanity –> group discussion of ideas

Climate

Per Capita Carbon Dioxide Emissions (2017)

Largest Source of Electricity Consumption (2020)

  • Canada: 60% hydro
  • Sweden: 45% hydro
  • U.S.: 40% gas
  • Australia: 55% coal
  • France: 70% nuclear
  • Japan: 30% coal
  • Germany: 15% wind, 15% coal
  • China: 60% coal
  • World: 35% coal

Energy and Minerals

Production statistics is from 2019 (to minimize aberrations caused by COVID-19). “Reserves” refer to the “working inventory of mining companies' supplies,” as defined by the U.S. Geological Survey. “Resources” refers to “identified minable quantity.”

Cobalt

  • Production:
    • 70% in the DRC
  • Reserves:
    • Countries above 5%: DRC 50%, U.S. 20%, Cuba 7%
    • China 1%
  • Resources:
    • “Vast majority” in the DRC and Zambia; U.S. 4%

Lithium

  • Production:
    • U.S. data withheld (the only mine as of 2021 is in NV, with proposed mines in CA, OR, TN, AR, and NC)
    • World ex-U.S.: Australia 50%, 20% Chile, 10% China
  • Reserves:
    • Countries above 10%: Chile 40%, Australia 20%, Argentina 10%, China 10%
  • Resources:
    • Countries above 10%: Bolivia 25%, Argentina 20%, Chile 10%, U.S. 10%
    • China 5%

Rare Earths

  • Production:
    • 60% in China
  • Reserves:
    • Countries above 5%: China 35%, Brazil 20%, Vietnam 20%, Russia 10%, India 6%
    • U.S. 1%
  • Resources:
    • “relatively abundant”

Philanthropy

Effective Altruism (2021)

  • Committed capital: $46b
  • Distribution: 50% from Good Ventures, 35% from FTX
  • Causes: global health and longtermism