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$3 a day: A new poverty line has shifted the World Bank’s data on extreme poverty. What changed, and why?

✇Our World in Data
By: Joe Hasell Bertha Rohenkohl Pablo Arriagada
In June 2025, the World Bank increased its extreme poverty estimates by 125 million people. This doesn’t mean the world has gotten poorer: it reflects a new, higher International Poverty Line of $3 a day, up from $2.15.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/new-international-poverty-line-3-dollars-per-day" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/43f2893b-21b1-42de-1908-2293e2516400/w=1350"/></a>

Death rates from cardiovascular disease have fallen dramatically — what were the breakthroughs behind this?

✇Our World in Data
By: Saloni Dattani
Over a century of progress in surgery, drugs, prevention, and emergency response has driven down death rates from heart disease and stroke.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/cardiovascular-deaths-decline" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/7ca4974e-8cc8-4b46-a09f-a870c56c1600/w=1350"/></a>

The Demographic and Health Surveys brought crucial data for more than 90 countries — without them, we risk darkness

✇Our World in Data
By: Saloni Dattani
Cuts to US aid could end the Demographic and Health Surveys. This would leave a massive gap in our understanding of global health, mortality, and development.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/demographic-health-surveys-risk" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/fd6c3b38-3997-4f3d-1051-b35ac4e0d000/w=1350"/></a>

How does the World Bank classify countries by income?

✇Our World in Data
By: Bertha Rohenkohl Pablo Arriagada
The World Bank classifies countries into four income groups based on average income per person. This article explains how these groups are defined.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/world-bank-income-groups-explained" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/d4cdc240-17cd-4e8c-31e3-d1d197547600/w=1350"/></a>

There are now more than half a billion mobile money accounts in the world, mostly in Africa — here's why this matters

✇Our World in Data
By: Simon van Teutem
Mobile money allows people without banks to securely transfer funds via text message, and its adoption is growing rapidly.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/mobile-money-why-it-matters" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/c18c6704-95a3-4757-6f5a-7036d5b86400/w=1350"/></a>

The end of tuberculosis that wasn’t

✇Our World in Data
By: Hannah Ritchie Fiona Spooner
In the 1980s, many thought tuberculosis was on the path to elimination. In reality, more were dying from the disease than ever.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/the-end-of-tuberculosis-that-wasnt" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/b5aa8c82-2fc4-4e0a-cdf1-82d5aa6f9800/w=1350"/></a>

Childhood leukemia: how a deadly cancer became treatable

✇Our World in Data
By: Saloni Dattani
Before the 1970s, most children affected by leukemia would quickly die from it. Now, most children in rich countries are cured.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/childhood-leukemia-treatment-history" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/28a0ccf8-4618-4822-638f-ea8143e06000/w=1350"/></a>

What are international dollars?

✇Our World in Data
By: Bertha Rohenkohl Joe Hasell Pablo Arriagada Esteban Ortiz-Ospina
International dollars are used to compare incomes and purchasing power across countries and over time. Here, we explain how they’re calculated and why they’re used.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/international-dollars" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/95f674ac-5e7c-4474-6493-9a5578eb2a00/w=1350"/></a>

Measles vaccines save millions of lives each year

✇Our World in Data
By: Saloni Dattani Fiona Spooner
Measles once killed millions every year. Vaccines changed this, preventing disease, long-term immune damage, and deadly outbreaks.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/measles-vaccines-save-lives" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/5f66d86d-91f5-4839-caa7-d6c5ce64e300/w=1350"/></a>

Where in the world are babies at the lowest risk of dying?

✇Our World in Data
By: Hannah Ritchie
It’s difficult to compare countries because they don’t always measure infant mortality in the same way.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/where-are-babies-at-lowest-risk-of-dying" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/39d23685-afc7-46b8-2018-8813c041c100/w=1350"/></a>

Children in rich countries are much less likely to die than a few decades ago, but we rarely hear about this progress

✇Our World in Data
By: Hannah Ritchie
In most rich countries, child mortality has more than halved in the last thirty years; we know we can go further.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-rich-countries-decline" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/0f13d2cd-7f47-4f84-22a3-b1014dd1e500/w=1350"/></a>

How effective and safe are measles vaccines?

✇Our World in Data
By: Saloni Dattani
Data from large meta-analyses show that measles vaccination is highly effective and safe, giving a 95% reduction in the risk of measles.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/measles-vaccine-effectiveness-safety" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/1d042616-0031-4929-ef74-a0d7a3176000/w=1350"/></a>

What is foreign aid? How “Official Development Assistance” is measured

✇Our World in Data
By: Simon van Teutem Pablo Arriagada
Foreign aid measurement is complicated — what exactly counts as Official Development Assistance, what doesn’t, and how much is actually spent abroad?<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/what-is-foreign-aid" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/45c115b3-453b-4d01-6ded-31b0e8570700/w=1350"/></a>
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