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One Buyer Dominates Iran’s Oil Exports

2026-03-04 01:47:13

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One Buyer Dominates Iran’s Oil Exports

See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

Recent estimates suggest that 91% of Iran’s oil exports head to China.
As other countries cut ties with the Middle Eastern state amid sanctions, China doubled down on the relationship.
Syria, The United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela are also notable buyers of Iranian oil.

Iran has long faced international sanctions over its nuclear program.

Under President Trump, the U.S. intensified pressure by imposing a broad trading ban and targeting foreign financial institutions that did business with Iran, aiming to curb its nuclear ambitions.

The expanded sanctions left only a small group of countries willing to trade with Iran, the fourth-largest oil producer in OPEC and a major fossil fuel exporter.

This graphic charts the largest purchasers of Iranian oil, based on 2024 customs data from Iran, via TradeImeX.

Iran’s Oil Exports by Country

Dive into the data below:

Rank	Country	Export Value ($B)	Share of Total (%)	Estimated Volume (Thousand bpd)
1	China	32.5	90.8	1460
2	Syria	1.18	3.3	53
3	United Arab Emirates	0.72	2	32
4	Venezuela	0.43	1.2	19
5	Iraq	0.32	0.9	14
6	Turkey	0.22	0.6	10
7	Malaysia	0.14	0.4	6
8	Oman	0.11	0.3	5
9	Lebanon	0.07	0.2	3
10	Sri Lanka	0.07	0.2	3

Iran earned $35.76 billion from oil exports in 2024, though much of that trade reflects geopolitical alignment as much as market demand.

China took the lion’s share, accounting for over 90% of exports, or $32.5 billion. As other countries reduced imports under international sanctions, China continued buying Iranian crude at scale, cementing its role as Tehran’s primary energy partner.

Syria was the only other country to surpass $1 billion in purchases, importing roughly $1.2 billion worth of oil in 2024, or 3.3% of total exports. The United Arab Emirates and Venezuela followed at 2% and 1.2%, respectively.

In Venezuela’s case, energy trade has included an agreement to swap Venezuelan oil for Iranian condensate amid both countries facing U.S. sanctions.

Iran Sells Its Oil Cheap

The list of countries that Iran sells to has shrunk in recent years as sanctions reshaped trade flows. In 2010, Iranian oil landed in the ports of more than 20 countries, including China, Japan, India, South Korea, and several European nations. Sanctions did not halt exports entirely, but they redirected them toward a far smaller group of buyers.

Today, Iran relies on a shadow fleet of re-flagged tankers and ship-to-ship transfers to obscure cargo origins and bypass restrictions. Price is another incentive: Iranian crude typically trades at a $3–9 per barrel discount to Brent. Its oil is relatively cheap to extract — costing as little as $10 per barrel — compared with Brent prices around $60. That discount is estimated to cost Tehran several billion dollars per year in forgone revenue, effectively the price of maintaining a limited customer base.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about Iran’s exports, check out this creator graphic which charts the country’s top export destinations.

Visualized: The Increasing Speed of Cyberattacks

2026-03-03 23:53:00

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Ryan Bellefontaine

Graphics & Design

Abha Patil

The Increasing Speed of Cyberattacks

Key Takeaways

The speed of cyberattacks is rising as first-quartile time to exfiltration dropped from 276 minutes (2024) to 72 minutes (2025).
With about one in five incidents reaching exfiltration in under an hour, response must begin immediately.
Teams need rapid containment playbooks and longer-horizon hunting to cover both “minutes” and “days” long intrusions.

Cyber intrusions rarely follow a single path once attackers get a foothold. Instead, they pivot across systems to widen impact and deepen damage.

This graphic, in partnership with Unit 42 by Palo Alto Networks, shows how the fastest incidents are accelerating, based on data from Unit 42’s Global Incident Response Report.

What “Time to Exfiltration” Captures

Here is a table that shows first-quartile time to exfiltration in 2024 vs. 2025.

Year	First-Quartile Time to Exfiltration (Minutes)
2024	276
2025	72

Unit 42 tracks “time to exfiltration,” which spans initial compromise to confirmed data theft. Because attackers move quickly, that clock often decides whether defenders can interrupt the mission.

A Fourfold Drop at the Fastest End

Across Unit 42’s dataset, the median time to exfiltration measured about two days. However, the fastest cases compress that timeline dramatically, which raises the cost of any delay.

In the first quartile, time to exfiltration fell from 276 minutes in 2024 to 72 minutes in 2025. As a result, teams lose hours of investigation time in the intrusions that move fastest.

Unit 42 also reports that roughly one in five cases can reach exfiltration in under an hour. Consequently, detection, triage, and containment must begin immediately, not after escalation.

Preparing for Minutes, Not Days

Meanwhile, some intrusions still unfold over days, with deeper reconnaissance and persistence. Therefore, teams need both rapid playbooks and sustained hunting.

They can start by tightening identity controls, instrumenting endpoints and browsers, and automating containment steps.

Finally, measure the mean time to detect and respond, then rehearse decisions before an incident hits. When the speed of cyberattacks defines outcomes, readiness becomes a core control.

See why cyberattacks are getting 4x faster

Charted: Oil Trade Through the Strait of Hormuz by Country

2026-03-03 22:53:07

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Charted: Oil Trade Through the Strait of Hormuz by Country

See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

China receives 37.7% of all oil exports that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the most of any country.
Asian countries are most affected by a closure of the strait, receiving 89.2% of the Strait’s crude oil and condensate flows.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, with both exporters and importers of crude oil heavily reliant on flows through the Strait.

This visualization maps which countries export crude oil and condensate through the Strait of Hormuz—and, more importantly, which countries import those flows. The data is from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and is for Q1 2025.

Which Countries Export Oil Through the Strait of Hormuz?

Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz are heavily concentrated among a few Gulf producers. Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest share of crude and condensate exports transiting the strait, at 37.2% of the total.

The data table below breaks down the origin countries and their shares of crude oil and condensate exports through the Strait of Hormuz as of Q1 2025:

Country	Share of the Strait of Hormuz's Oil and Condensate Exports
Saudi Arabia	37.2%
Iraq	22.8%
United Arab Emirates	12.9%
Iran	10.6%
Kuwait	10.1%
Qatar	4.4%
Other	1.9%

Iraq follows with 22.8%, while the United Arab Emirates contributes 12.9%. Iran (10.6%) and Kuwait (10.1%) round out the top five exporters. Together, these five countries account for 93.6% of all crude and condensate volumes moving through the strait.

This concentration underscores how closely global oil markets are tied to production in the Persian Gulf.

With recent military conflict in the Middle East and Iran’s announcement that it would attack any ship passing through the Strait, more than 20% of global oil flows are now at risk.

The Countries Reliant on Oil From the Strait of Hormuz

On the demand side, Asia is overwhelmingly reliant on oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Asian countries collectively receive 89.2% of the crude oil and condensate that transit the waterway.

The data table below shows the destination countries and their shares of crude oil and condensate exports through the Strait of Hormuz as of Q1 2025:

Country	Share of Oil and Condensate Imports From the Strait of Hormuz
China	37.7%
India	14.7%
Other Asia	13.9%
South Korea	12.0%
Japan	10.9%
Europe	3.8%
United States	2.5%
Other	4.5%

China alone accounts for 37.7% of total flows—more than any other country by a wide margin. India is the second-largest destination at 14.7%, followed by South Korea at 12.0% and Japan at 10.9%. Other Asian countries make up 13.9% of crude oil and condensate flows that pass through the Strait.

In contrast, the United States receives just 2.5% of these flows, reflecting its increased domestic production and diversified import sources.

Any closure or disruption of the Strait of Hormuz would disproportionately impact Asian economies, particularly China and India, which together receive over half of all volumes passing through the strait.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about global crude oil trade flows, check out this graphic visualizing 2024’s biggest crude oil exporters and importers on Voronoi.

Mapped: U.S. Military Bases in the Middle East, and Which Ones Iran Hit

2026-03-03 21:56:21

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U.S. Military Bases in the Middle East, and Which Ones Iran Hit

See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

The United States currently has over 40,000 soldiers deployed across 10 countries in the Middle East.
A majority of U.S. bases and military assets in and around the Persian Gulf were hit by Iranian retaliatory airstrikes.

In response to large-scale airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel on February 28, 2026, Iran launched a series of retaliatory airstrikes on U.S. military assets across the Middle East.

The U.S. has had a substantial military presence in the Middle East for decades, including most notably during the two Gulf Wars. Today between 40,000-50,000 American military personnel are stationed across roughly 10 countries in the region.

This map shows the locations of unclassified U.S. military bases and assets across the Middle East, using modified 2025 data from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Notably, in addition to targeting formal military facilities such as the Al Dhafra base in the United Arab Emirates, the Iranian military also attacked commercial facilities which are used by the U.S. military such as the ports of Duqm and Jebel Ali.

The U.S. Military’s Sprawling Gulf Presence

The most concentrated U.S. military presence in the Middle East is in and around the Persian Gulf, which is home to the largest single source of petroleum worldwide.

The U.S. has military bases in each of the Gulf states except Iran, with Qatar holding the largest single regional base at Al Udeid Air Base. Over 10,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in that base alone.

The data table below highlights unclassified U.S. military assets around the Middle East, and their status in the current conflict as of March 2nd:

U.S. Military Asset	Country	Targeted by Iran?
Ain al-Asad Air Base	Iraq	Yes
Akrotiri (RAF)	Cyprus (UK base with U.S. troops)	Yes
Al Dhafra Air Base	United Arab Emirates	Yes
Al Udeid Air Base	Qatar	Yes
Ali Al-Salem Air Base	Kuwait	Yes
Camp Arifjan	Kuwait	No
Camp As Sayliyah	Qatar	No
Camp Buehring	Kuwait	Yes
Camp Lemonnier	Djibouti	No
Duqm Port	Oman	Yes
Erbil Air Base (Al-Harir)	Iraq	Yes
Incirlik Air Base	Türkiye	No
Israel (no base)	Israel	Yes
Izmir Air Station	Türkiye	No
Jebel Ali Port	UAE	Yes
MFO South Camp (Sinai)	Egypt	No
Muwaffaq al-Salti Air Base	Jordan	Yes
NE Syria (various)	Syria	No
NSA Bahrain	Bahrain	Yes
Prince Sultan Air Base	Saudi Arabia	Yes
Thumrait / Masirah	Oman	No
Tower 22	Jordan	No

Over 13,500 soldiers are stationed in Kuwait, with this small Gulf country welcoming hefty U.S. military personnel following the Gulf Wars. All but one U.S.-Kuwaiti base has been targeted by Iran.

American Military Bases Beyond the Gulf

The U.S. also holds Middle Eastern bases beyond the immediate vicinity of Iran, and some of these facilities were also the target of Iranian drones and missiles.

The British airbase of Akrotiri in Cyprus, which hosts U.S. troops, faced a sustained drone attack alleged to have been carried out by the Iran-backed Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah. This marks the first attack on a European country within this conflict.

Nearby Israel was also bombarded, while Jordan’s Muwaffaq al-Salti Air Base intercepted missiles over what appeared to be Iran’s farthest land target.

Notably, none of the U.S. military installations in nearby Djibouti, Egypt, or Türkiye appear to have been targeted.

The Spiraling Hostilities in the Middle East to Come

The U.S. and Israeli strikes which began on February 28th decimated much of Iran’s top leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as well as over 40 others.

Iran’s avowed retaliation has already placed U.S. military personnel across the Middle East on high alert. While the U.S. government has indicated its expectation that the conflict could last for weeks, the significant escalation has already had a severe impact on global markets, owing to the Persian Gulf’s central role in the world’s oil and gas industry.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out How Big is Iran? on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Mapped: America’s Fastest-Growing and Fastest-Shrinking States (2020–2025)

2026-03-03 21:06:39

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Use This Visualization

America’s Fastest-Growing and Shrinking States (2020–2025)

See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

The U.S. population grew by 10.3 million people (+3.1%) from April 2020 to July 2025, with the South accounting for the majority of gains.
Texas and Florida added the most residents, while New York and California recorded the largest declines.
The map shows percentage change by state, while the surrounding chart highlights total population gains and losses.

Where are Americans moving since 2020?

Between April 2020 and July 2025, the U.S. population grew by more than 10 million people, but growth was heavily concentrated in a handful of states. This map shows the percentage change in each state’s population over the past five years, alongside total gains and losses in residents.

The data for this visualization comes from the U.S. Census Bureau. It measures total population change from April 2020 to July 2025.

The South Dominates Population Growth

The South was the clear growth engine of the country, expanding by 6.0% and adding more than 7.5 million people. Texas led the nation in numeric gains, adding 2.56 million residents. Florida followed closely with 1.92 million new residents, while North Carolina and Georgia also posted strong increases.

Rank	State	Population change (2020-2025)	Percent change
1	Texas	2,560,323	8.8%
2	Florida	1,924,311	8.9%
3	North Carolina	756,576	7.2%
4	Georgia	588,887	5.5%
5	Arizona	465,714	6.5%
6	South Carolina	452,024	8.8%
7	Tennessee	402,757	5.8%
8	Washington	293,501	3.8%
9	Utah	267,303	8.2%
10	New Jersey	259,191	2.8%
11	Virginia	248,688	2.9%
12	Colorado	237,235	4.1%
13	Idaho	190,610	10.4%
14	Indiana	186,728	2.8%
15	Nevada	176,595	5.7%
16	Alabama	167,651	3.3%
17	Oklahoma	163,934	4.1%
18	Minnesota	123,672	2.2%
19	Massachusetts	120,972	1.7%
20	Missouri	115,628	1.9%
21	Arkansas	103,261	3.4%
22	Ohio	101,065	0.9%
23	Kentucky	100,577	2.2%
24	Maryland	83,707	1.4%
25	Connecticut	80,746	2.2%
26	Wisconsin	78,464	1.3%
27	Delaware	70,002	7.1%
28	Montana	60,473	5.6%
29	Pennsylvania	56,679	0.4%
30	Nebraska	56,026	2.9%
31	Maine	51,656	3.8%
32	Michigan	48,522	0.5%
33	South Dakota	48,438	5.5%
34	Iowa	47,805	1.5%
35	Kansas	39,234	1.3%
36	New Hampshire	37,769	2.7%
37	Oregon	36,304	0.9%
38	North Dakota	20,222	2.6%
39	Rhode Island	17,164	1.6%
40	Wyoming	11,881	2.1%
41	New Mexico	8,006	0.4%
42	District of Columbia	4,101	0.6%
43	Alaska	3,887	0.5%
44	Vermont	1,586	0.2%
45	Mississippi	-7,104	-0.2%
46	Hawaii	-22,447	-1.5%
47	West Virginia	-27,612	-1.5%
48	Louisiana	-39,705	-0.9%
49	Illinois	-102,600	-0.8%
50	California	-200,394	-0.5%
51	New York	-201,269	-1.0%

In percentage terms, Idaho (+10.4%), Florida (+8.9%), and Texas (+8.8%) were among the fastest-growing states. Lower taxes, job growth, and domestic migration have all contributed to this sustained southern expansion.

Mixed Growth in the West and Midwest

Western states posted moderate overall growth of 1.9%. Arizona (+6.5%), Utah (+8.2%), and Nevada (+5.7%) stood out, while California saw a decline of 200,394 residents (-0.5%).

The Midwest grew just 1.1% overall. States like Indiana and Minnesota saw modest gains, but growth lagged behind the South. Industrial restructuring and slower job creation continue to weigh on parts of the region.

Northeast and Coastal Losses

The Northeast recorded the slowest regional growth at just 0.7%. New York experienced the largest population drop in the country, losing 201,269 residents (-1.0%). Illinois (-102,600) and Louisiana (-39,705) also saw significant declines, while West Virginia (-1.5%) and Hawaii (-1.5%) posted the largest percentage losses.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Mapped: Job Growth in Every U.S. State in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Ranked: The World’s Top Startup Hubs

2026-03-03 02:25:00

Published

1 day ago

March 2, 2026

Julia Wendling

Graphics & Design

Athul Alexander

Proportional bubbles chart that ranks the top 10 countries from the Global Startup Ecosystem Index from StartupBlink.

Ranked: The World’s Top Startup Hubs

Key Takeaways

The U.S. leads by a wide margin with a score of 254.1, more than 3.5 times higher than the UK in second place (70.7).
Israel (62.2), Singapore (54.7), and Canada (45.4) complete the top five list.
Smaller nations like Estonia and Lithuania show that strong digital infrastructure and business environments can help startups compete globally despite limited scale.

Startup ecosystems are emerging around the world, but a small group of countries continues to lead the charge.

Created in partnership with Terzo, this graphic shows the countries that rank highest by entrepreneurship ecosystem. It’s part of our Markets in a Minute series, which delivers quick economic insights for executives.

A Global Startup Race

According to StartupBlink, the United States dominates with a score of 254.1, more than three times higher than second-place United Kingdom (70.7). Israel (62.2), Singapore (54.7), and Canada (45.4) complete the top five, highlighting a mix of scale-driven giants and highly efficient innovation hubs.

Global Startup Ecosystem Index
Ranking	Country	Score
1	U.S.	254.1
2	UK	70.7
3	Israel	62.2
4	Singapore	54.7
5	Canada	45.4
6	Sweden	35.3
7	Germany	33.2
8	France	32.4
9	Switzerland	31.7
10	Netherlands	30.9
11	Estonia	30.7
12	Australia	28.8
13	China	26.9
14	Spain	23.2
15	Finland	22.9
16	Ireland	21.2
17	Denmark	20.8
18	Japan	18.1
19	Lithuania	17.5
20	South Korea	16.6

The rest of the ranking is spread across Europe. Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands maintain strong positions thanks to deep talent pools and access to capital.

What Makes a Startup Hub?

These scores are based on three core components that together define ecosystem strength.

The first is quantity, which includes variables like the number of startups, investors, and accelerators operating within a country. The second is quality, which includes total private-sector startup investment and startup employment. Finally, the startup business environment measures factors such as diversity, internet speed and affordability, and internet freedom.

By combining these subindexes, the ranking provides a holistic snapshot of where founders have the strongest foundations to launch and scale new ventures.

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