The pandemic’s true death toll
Our daily estimate of excess deaths around the world
How many people have died because of the covid-19 pandemic? The answer depends both on the data available, and on how you define “because”. Many people who die while infected with SARS-CoV-2 are never tested for it, and do not enter the official totals. Conversely, some people whose deaths have been attributed to covid-19 had other ailments that might have ended their lives on a similar timeframe anyway. And what about people who died of preventable causes during the pandemic, because hospitals full of covid-19 patients could not treat them? If such cases count, they must be offset by deaths that did not occur but would have in normal times, such as those caused by flu or air pollution.
If America bans TikTok, lots of other companies will suffer
Three charts show the possible economic toll
Trump’s first term coincided with a MAGA baby boom. Will his second?
Biden-era data bolster the claim that partisans have more kids after their man wins
How do countries rank by military spending?
Our annual comparison of defence budgets using three benchmarks
How much worse could America’s measles outbreak get?
Our charts show how falling vaccination rates could lead to a surge in cases
Russia’s military parades have become a sign of weakness
Will this year’s event buck the trend?
Which countries have the best, and worst, living standards?
A ranking of 193 countries shows that human development is stalling almost everywhere