Visual CapitalistModify

2026-01-01 02:24:31

Charted: Declining Fertility Rates in OECD Countries (1950-2025)

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.

Fertility rates are collapsing faster than expected around the world.

In Mexico, years of declining fertility rates have pushed average births per woman to 1.9, down from 6.7 in 1950. Moreover, fertility rates in Costa Rica are lower than the U.S., standing at 1.3 births per woman.

This graphic shows total fertility rates in OECD countries compared to 1950, based on data from the United Nation’s World Population Prospects: The 2024 Revision.

A Closer Look at Declining Fertility Rates

Below, we show the total fertility rates of countries, which represents the average number of children a woman would have in her lifetime if current birth rates remain constant.

Country	Total Fertility Rate 1950	Total Fertility Rate 2025	Change 1950 to 2025
South Korea	6.1	0.7	-5.4
Chile	4.8	1.1	-3.7
Italy	2.5	1.2	-1.3
Lithuania	2.7	1.2	-1.5
Japan	3.6	1.2	-2.4
Spain	2.5	1.2	-1.3
Finland	3.2	1.3	-1.9
Poland	3.7	1.3	-2.4
Costa Rica	6.3	1.3	-5.0
Austria	2.1	1.3	-0.8
Canada	3.4	1.3	-2.1
Greece	2.6	1.3	-1.3
Latvia	2.1	1.3	-0.8
Estonia	2.3	1.4	-0.9
Belgium	2.3	1.4	-0.9
Luxembourg	2.0	1.4	-0.6
Norway	2.5	1.4	-1.1
Sweden	2.3	1.4	-0.9
Netherlands	3.1	1.4	-1.7
Switzerland	2.4	1.4	-1.0
Germany	2.2	1.5	-0.7
Czechia	2.8	1.5	-1.3
Hungary	2.6	1.5	-1.1
Iceland	3.9	1.5	-2.4
Portugal	3.2	1.5	-1.7
Denmark	2.6	1.5	-1.1
United Kingdom	2.2	1.5	-0.7
Slovakia	3.6	1.6	-2.0
Slovenia	3.0	1.6	-1.4
Ireland	3.5	1.6	-1.9
Colombia	6.4	1.6	-4.8
Türkiye	6.5	1.6	-4.9
United States	3.1	1.6	-1.5
France	3.0	1.6	-1.4
Australia	3.1	1.6	-1.5
New Zealand	3.6	1.6	-2.0
Mexico	6.7	1.9	-4.8
Israel	4.6	2.8	-1.8

South Korea’s average fertility rate has plummeted from 6.1 births per woman in 1950 to 0.7 today, one of the fastest declines globally.

Fertility rates in the country fell below the replacement level more than 40 years ago and have steadily declined since. Among the factors driving down birth rates are high childbearing costs, workplace barriers, and a rigid work culture.

As we can see, Chile has the second-lowest total fertility rate in the OECD, at 1.1 births per woman, falling below Japan. In 1950, the total fertility rate was 4.8—higher than the majority of OECD countries.

Meanwhile, Italy faces the lowest fertility rate among European countries, at 1.2 births per woman, and France has the highest at 1.6.

Similarly, the U.S. sits on the higher end of the pack, with 1.6 births per woman, even as fertility rates hit record lows. Overall, only two OECD countries—Mexico and Israel—have higher fertility rates.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on falling fertility rates of the world’s 10 biggest countries.

2025-12-31 23:03:07

Mapped: The Most Populated Cities in the Middle East

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

The Middle East is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing and most densely populated cities. Rapid population growth, rural-to-urban migration, and economic concentration have driven major cities to expand well beyond their historic cores.

This map highlights the most populated cities in the region in 2025. The data for this visualization comes from the United Nations.

Cairo Stands Alone at the Top

Cairo ranks as the Middle East’s most populated city, with more than 25.5 million residents in 2025. The Egyptian capital has expanded steadily for decades, driven by high birth rates and sustained migration from rural areas. Alexandria and several other Egyptian cities also rank highly.

Rank	Location	City	2025 population
1	Egypt	Al-Qahirah (Cairo)	25,566,000
2	Türkiye	Istanbul	15,015,000
3	Iran	Tehrān (Tehran)	9,175,000
4	Egypt	Alexandria	7,267,000
5	Saudi Arabia	Ar-Riyāḑ (Riyadh)	6,916,000
6	Jordan	Ammān (Amman)	6,404,000
7	Iraq	Baghdād (Baghdad)	6,391,000
8	Iran	Mashhad	5,398,000
9	United Arab Emirates	Dubai	5,284,000
10	Syria	Dimashq (Damascus)	4,288,000
11	Saudi Arabia	Jeddah	4,284,000
12	Kuwait	Al Kuwayt (Kuwait City)	4,265,000
13	Egypt	Luxor	4,188,000
14	Yemen	Şan'ā' (Sana'a)	4,019,000
15	Türkiye	Ankara	3,612,000
16	Iran	Karaj	3,599,000
17	Syria	Aleppo	2,922,000
18	Türkiye	Izmir	2,650,000
19	Israel	Tel Aviv	2,643,000
20	Saudi Arabia	Dammam	2,336,000
21	Türkiye	Bursa	2,282,000
22	Qatar	Ad-Dawhah (Doha)	2,194,000
23	Egypt	Banha	2,089,000
24	Iraq	Basra	2,034,000
25	Iran	Isfahan	1,844,000
26	Lebanon	Bayrūt (Beirut)	1,794,000
27	Egypt	El Mansura	1,713,000
28	Saudi Arabia	Mecca	1,692,000
29	Iraq	Mosul	1,665,000
30	Iran	Ahwaz	1,639,000

Türkiye and Iran Anchor Urban Growth

Türkiye places multiple cities in the top 20, led by Istanbul with over 15 million people, followed by Ankara and Izmir.

Iran also features prominently, with Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and several secondary cities reflecting the country’s large population and relatively balanced urban network.

Gulf Cities Punch Above Their Weight

Several Gulf cities appear high on the list despite much smaller national populations. Riyadh, Dubai, Jeddah, Doha, and Kuwait City have grown rapidly over the past two decades, fueled by economic diversification, infrastructure investment, and foreign labor inflows.

While smaller than Cairo or Istanbul, their growth rates remain among the fastest in the region.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The World’s Wealthiest Nations in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

2025-12-31 20:11:03

Ranked: The Performance of Magnificent Seven Stocks in 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.

Performance across the Magnificent Seven stocks showed a clear divergence in 2025.

This year, Google-parent Alphabet has surged above the rest thanks to optimism surrounding its in-house TPU chips and AI tools. In contrast, Amazon posted only single-digit gains amid slowing growth in its cloud computing business over the year.

This graphic shows the performance of Magnificent Seven stocks in 2025, based on data from TradingView.

A Closer Look at the Magnificent Seven Stocks in 2025

As of December 23, Magnificent Seven stocks averaged 27.5% returns in 2025, continuing to outpace the S&P 500 index by a sizable margin:

With 65.8% returns, Alphabet, the world’s most profitable company, surged past Nvidia this year.

Back in 2015, Alphabet began developing Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), designed for AI model training and inferencing. But in recent months, it announced it would begin selling these chips, sending its share price soaring.

Not only is Meta in talks with Alphabet to buy its chips, the company signed a deal with Anthropic PBC to supply tens of thousands of chips to the AI firm.

Nvidia follows with a 40.9% return, well below its 171% gain in 2024 and the 239% surge the year before. Despite doubling revenue year over year, the company is facing intensifying competition from Alphabet, AMD, and Broadcom.

Meanwhile, Apple posted just 8.8% returns. This year, several high-level executives have left the company for other Big Tech firms amid a lackluster AI rollout. Among them is Jony Ive, a key builder of the iPhone, who went to OpenAI in a $6.5 billion pay package.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the returns of global stock markets in 2025.

2025-12-31 13:21:00

12 NASA Satellite Images That Tell the Story of Earth in 2025

From devastating wildfires to swirling cloud vortices, NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites captured remarkable views of our planet throughout 2025. These images reveal both the beauty and fragility of Earth’s systems, documenting natural phenomena, climate events, and human impacts visible from space.

All images featured in this article come from NASA’s Earth Observatory, captured by instruments aboard a variety of satellites in orbit around Earth. Together, they tell the story of a dynamic planet in constant flux.

The Palisades Fire’s Footprint

NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

This false-color Landsat 9 image from January 14, 2025, reveals the burn scar left by the Palisades fire in Los Angeles County.

The fire ignited on the morning of January 7 near the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and spread rapidly, consuming nearly 24,000 acres (97 square kilometers) of wildland and developed areas within one week. In this image, which combines shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible light, unburned vegetation appears green while recently burned landscape shows as light to dark brown.

The charred areas stretch north and west of Pacific Palisades toward Malibu, where land previously burned by the December 2024 Franklin fire is also visible along the coast.

Desert Dust Streams from Iran

NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview

This Terra MODIS image from January 22, 2025, captures dust plumes sweeping across southeastern Iran and streaming over the Gulf of Oman toward the Arabian Peninsula.

The airborne material originates primarily from the dried bed of Hamun-e Jazmurian, an intermittent lake in one of southwest Asia’s major dust source regions. In this arid basin, some areas receive less than 10 centimeters (4 inches) of annual rainfall while evaporation rates remain high.

The dust traveled south-southwest across the water to the coast of the United Arab Emirates, where the haze reduced visibility and prompted weather warnings. Beyond disrupting transportation, such dust events pose health risks: a recent analysis found that material from Jazmurian basin storms contains heavy metals and other substances hazardous to human and ecosystem health.

Floating Solar Farm on India’s Narmada River

NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

This Landsat 9 image from January 30, 2025, shows arrays of floating solar panels, known as “floatovoltaics,” spread across a reservoir on the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh, India.

The geometric blue rectangles visible in the reservoir represent two floating solar projects commissioned in 2024, with a combined capacity of 216 megawatts. The reservoir, created by the Omkareshwar Dam completed in 2007, spans more than 90 square kilometers.

Floating solar installations offer an alternative to land-based systems in areas where space is limited. They can also reduce evaporation, impede algal growth, and benefit from the cooling effect of water on panel efficiency.

Swirling Skies and Melting Icebergs

NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)

This NOAA-20 VIIRS image from February 24, 2025, captures von Kármán vortex streets forming behind three of the remote South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The swirling cloud patterns appear when persistent westerly winds of moderate strength push marine stratocumulus clouds past the steep volcanic peaks of Visokoi, Candlemas, and Saunders islands.

Named after mathematician and aerospace engineer Theodore von Kármán, who first described these oscillating flow features in 1911, the vortices form alternating spirals that rotate in opposite directions downstream of each obstacle. The cloud trail extending from Saunders Island appears slightly brighter than surrounding clouds due to volcanic emissions from Mount Michael, which has been weakly erupting since 2014. To the west of the island chain, several icebergs drift visibly beneath thin cloud cover.

Haze Sweeps Over the Mediterranean

NASA/ISS External Camera

This photograph from the International Space Station’s external camera on April 30, 2025, provides an oblique view stretching from the Alps to Sicily, revealing layers of industrial haze drifting across the Mediterranean basin.

Much of the haze originates from the Po Valley in northern Italy and the Rhône Valley in France, where surrounding mountains trap pollutants. The Po Valley haze drifts hundreds of kilometers over the Adriatic Sea toward Greece. Astronauts have documented this atmospheric phenomenon for decades, providing a unique perspective on how geography shapes air quality across southern Europe.

Glacier Collapse Buries Swiss Village

NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

This Landsat 9 image from May 29, 2025, shows the aftermath of a catastrophic collapse of the Birch Glacier in Switzerland’s Lötschental valley.

The debris buried most of the village of Blatten, traveled 2.5 kilometers down the valley, and climbed 240 meters up the opposite valley wall before damming the Lonza River and causing flooding. Authorities began evacuating residents on May 19 after detecting instability. By May 27, the glacier was moving at 10 meters per day. Scientists believe rockfall accumulation on top of the glacier led to basal melting that reduced friction, triggering the collapse. The event was unusual in magnitude for the Swiss Alps.

Rare Snow Blankets Australia’s Northern Tablelands

NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

This Landsat 8 image from August 3, 2025, captures a rare blanket of snow across New South Wales’ Northern Tablelands, the heaviest snowfall in the region since the mid-1980s.

A powerful low-pressure system brought up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) of snow to the highlands while dumping more than 100 millimeters of rain at lower elevations. The storm stranded vehicles, closed highways, and left properties without power. Flooding triggered dozens of rescues across the region.

Phytoplankton Bloom in the Barents Sea

NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview

This Aqua MODIS image from August 5, 2025, reveals a massive phytoplankton bloom swirling through the Barents Sea near Norway’s Bear Island.

The milky turquoise-blue colors indicate the presence of coccolithophores, single-celled organisms armored with calcium carbonate plates that scatter light. The green hues come from diatoms, another type of phytoplankton. The Barents Sea typically experiences two bloom seasons: diatoms dominate in May and June, while coccolithophores peak in August.

These microscopic organisms form the base of the Arctic marine food web and play a critical role in the ocean’s carbon cycle and oxygen production. Researchers are closely studying how warming Atlantic currents may be shifting the location and extent of these blooms.

Hurricane Erin Roils in the Atlantic

NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview

This Terra MODIS image from August 18, 2025, shows Hurricane Erin churning in the Atlantic Ocean as the first hurricane of the 2025 season.

The storm underwent rapid intensification, jumping from Category 1 to Category 5 in just 24 hours between August 15 and 16, reaching peak sustained winds of 160 mph. Erin became only the 43rd Atlantic hurricane to reach Category 5 status since 1851, and the earliest to do so at this location.

Factors contributing to its explosive strengthening included light wind shear, a compact structure, and warm sea surface temperatures. While Erin did not make landfall, it caused more than 147,000 power outages in Puerto Rico and prompted evacuation orders for North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

British Columbia Wildfires Send Smoke Skyward

NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview

This Aqua MODIS image from September 2, 2025, captures thick smoke plumes rising from multiple lightning-ignited wildfires in British Columbia’s Cariboo region. The Itcha Lake fire had burned approximately 17,000 hectares (170 km²), while the Beef Trail Creek fire consumed around 7,800 hectares (78 km²) and the Dusty Lake fire charred about 2,800 hectares (28 km²). Evacuation orders were issued for surrounding communities.

The towering pyrocumulus clouds generated by these fires can inject smoke and particulate matter high into the atmosphere, where it can travel thousands of kilometers and degrade air quality across distant regions. By the end of the season, British Columbia had burned 732,000 hectares (7,320 km²), slightly above the 10-year average. Overall, Canada experienced one of its worst fire seasons on record, trailing only 2023.

A Desert Intersection

NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

This Landsat 9 image from September 11, 2025, reveals a striking geological boundary in China’s Tarim Basin where the Mazartagh ridge meets the Hotan River. The 145 km (90 mile) ridge acts as a natural barrier, creating distinct dune patterns on either side.

The Hotan is the only river fed by glacial meltwater that maintains enough flow to cross the entire Takla Makan Desert. For centuries, this region served as an important source of nephrite jade collected along the ancient Silk Road.

Stubble Burning Shrouds Northern India in Haze

NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview

This Aqua MODIS image from November 11, 2025, shows thick haze blanketing northern India during the annual crop residue burning season.

Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh burn rice stubble between October and December to quickly clear fields before planting wheat.

On this day, air quality exceeded 400 on India’s national index, well into the “severe” category. Scientists have detected a shift in burning patterns: fires now peak from 4-6pm rather than the previous window of 1-2pm, meaning traditional satellite monitoring systems miss many fires. Estimates suggest stubble burning contributes 40-70% of particulate pollution on peak days.

The Tip of the Iceberg

These 12 images represent just a fraction of the thousands of observations NASA’s satellites make each year.

From tracking climate patterns to monitoring natural disasters, this orbital perspective helps scientists understand Earth’s interconnected systems and provides critical data for decision-makers around the world. As our planet continues to change, these eyes in the sky remain essential tools for documenting and responding to the challenges ahead.

2025-12-31 06:46:29

The world moved fast in 2025. And so did the data.

From the AI boom (and the infrastructure behind it) to shifting trade dynamics, our team published hundreds of charts and maps designed to help readers quickly understand what matters most.

Many of this year’s standout visuals shared one thing in common: they revealed hidden scale—whether it was Africa’s true size, the sheer output of the world economy, or how a handful of regions, people, and companies dominate the numbers we live by.

What does 2026 have in store?
We’ve analyzed thousands of predictions about next year in the VC+ Global Forecast Series. Sign up to become a VC+ member before Jan 1 and get a free gift!

In this yearly round-up, we’ve highlighted a small selection of our most impactful work.

The following visualizations were selected because they reached millions of people, sparked lively conversations, or stood out for clarity, relevance, and design. Let’s dive in!

Editor’s note: Click on any preview below to see the full-sized version of a visualization.

#25

How Much Power Do Data Centers Use?

AI didn’t just transform software in 2025.

It kicked off a hyperscaler buildout, and that buildout has a real energy footprint.

This visual shows how data centers already use about 8.9% of U.S. electricity, with projections pointing higher over the next few years.

#24

The Smartest AI Models, by IQ

This was published earlier in the year, but it still captures a defining theme of 2025.

AI models are getting shockingly capable, shockingly fast.

By comparing leading models on an IQ-style benchmark, the chart makes the “how smart is smart?” question feel very real.

#23

Europe’s Top Economies in 2026 by Projected GDP

This one stood out for its structure as much as its numbers.

Countries are organized by where they sit regionally in Europe (North, West, South, and East).

Then they’re sized by projected GDP, making Europe’s economic center of gravity obvious at a glance.

#22

The Best-Selling Video Games Since 2020

A post-pandemic era deserves a post-pandemic snapshot.

This radial chart shows which titles and franchises dominated sales since 2020.

And it highlights a familiar pattern in entertainment: a small number of megahits tower over everything else.

#21

How Many Countries Fit in Africa? The Continent’s True Size

This is a classic visualization that we re-did.

And it still captures people’s imagination every time.

By overlaying entire countries onto Africa, it helps correct the mental distortion created by common map projections.

#20

The World’s Largest Economies, Including U.S. States

A big economic milestone helped inspire this one.

Earlier in the year, California climbed high enough to rank as the world’s fourth-largest economy.

So we compared countries and U.S. states side-by-side, showing how enormous sub-national economies can be.

#19

How Much Control China Has Over the World’s Critical Minerals

Critical minerals sit at the intersection of tech, defense, and energy.

This infographic shows why the topic is also geopolitical.

China dominates both production and refining for multiple key minerals, creating a potential supply-chain pressure point for the rest of the world.

#18

The World’s Fastest Shrinking Countries

Demographic shifts were one of the key themes of 2025.

Fertility rates are falling, and more countries are entering population decline.

This ranking shows where shrinkage is happening fastest, and hints at what it could mean for labor markets and long-term growth.

#17

All of the World’s Births in 2025 in One Giant Chart

This chart makes global demographic momentum impossible to ignore.

The vast majority of births in 2025 occurred in Africa and Asia.

Meanwhile, North America and Europe account for only a tiny slice of the world’s newborns, shaping very different futures across regions.

#16

How Coca-Cola’s Secret Formula Has Changed Over Time

A pop-culture brand story, with a timely twist.

After political pressure pushed Coca-Cola to introduce a cane sugar variant in the U.S., we looked backward.

This timeline compares Coke recipes over time, showing that the “secret formula” hasn’t been as static as people assume.

#15

Visualizing the Top 10 Global Risks (2020-2025)

What the world worries about changes year to year.

This visualization tracks that evolution across the first half of the decade.

It’s a simple way to see which risks are fading, which are rising, and which are becoming permanent fixtures.

#14

Every Country’s Richest Billionaire in 2025

This is a massive infographic that identifies the richest billionaire in every single country.

Beyond the names, the list makes a bigger point about wealth concentration, and how unevenly billionaire capital is distributed globally.

#13

The World’s Largest Coal Producing Countries in 2024

The data is important here, but also the design is particularly memorable.

When many people think of coal, they are also thinking of the impact it has on air quality. And this design takes that into consideration, creating a circular smoke ring that gets divvied up based on country coal production.

#12

Every State’s Share of U.S. GDP

Most people think about GDP at the country level.

But state-level GDP is one of those unanswered questions people don’t realize they have.

This mosaic answers it quickly, showing how concentrated U.S. economic output really is across just a handful of states.

#11

The Most Reliable Car Brands in 2025

This was one of our most-read posts of the year, clearing 1.1 million views.

That tells you the topic resonated, and the ranking format made it easy for readers to find and share the results.

#10

Salary by Education Level in the United States

The link between education and pay is well known, but this chart makes it feel even more concrete.

It also stands out visually, using stacked books to turn a familiar statistic into something people stop scrolling for.

#9

The World’s Most Profitable Companies in 2025

This is an 80/20 list in the truest sense.

A handful of companies are clear outliers.

The ranking makes modern corporate power visible, and shows how profitability is concentrated among a small group of tech and oil giants.

#8

Which Countries Hold the Most Gold Reserves?

Gold surged in 2025, reaching new highs.

So naturally, this map felt especially relevant.

It shows which countries hold the largest reserves, and which governments have the biggest “hard asset” backstops.

#7

Countries With the Best Reputations in 2025

Soft power matters, and it can shift quickly.

In 2025, amid foreign policy changes, the U.S. saw a major drop in international reputation, while countries like Switzerland and Canada remained strong at the top.

#6

The 1%’s Share of U.S. Wealth Over Time (1989-2024)

This was a standout partly because of the visualization approach.

It uses a Mount Rushmore-style design to tell a very modern story.

And beneath the style, it’s tracking a long-term trend: the steady rise in wealth concentration at the top.

#5

Top 40 Jobs at Risk From AI

Jobs and AI were central to the zeitgeist in 2025.

This scatterplot highlights which occupations are most exposed based on task overlap with generative AI.

It helped readers see something counterintuitive: many high-paying, white-collar roles rank as more exposed than hands-on jobs.

#4

The Top Import Partner of Every U.S. State

Trade and tariffs were one of the biggest topics to kick off the year.

This visual helped make that story relevant on a more local level to many viewers: it shows each state’s top import partner, and it resonated strongly, pulling in 862,000 views.

#3

The Most Educated Populations, Across 45 Countries

This was our most popular post of the year, reaching 1.7 million views.

Education continued to be a key topic on the Visual Capitalist website, partially because the impact of AI on the future of learning and work is still up in the air.

#2

The World’s 30 Most Powerful Rivers

This is one of our most unique visuals of the year. It uses a striking satellite-like effect, with rivers cutting through forests.

Those rivers are scaled by discharge, turning a geography lesson into something that feels alive.

The data is just as compelling. The Amazon is in a category of its own, with average discharge around 209,000 to 224,000 m³ per second. That’s about 20% of global river flow.

The next most powerful systems trail far behind, which makes the visualization feel like a genuine “wow” moment.

#1

The $117 Trillion World Economy in One Giant Visualization

When you can see the entire world economy in one place, you instantly understand its size and scale, along with the big contrasts between blocs and countries.

The U.S. remains the largest economy at roughly $30.6 trillion, but the visual also makes it easy to spot momentum. India’s economy reached roughly $4.1 trillion in 2025 and is on track to climb further in the global rankings.

And beyond the numbers, this year’s edition just looks great.

The color palette and design choices make it something readers want to stare at, and share.

2025-12-31 02:43:20

Mapped: China’s Military Drills Around Taiwan (2022-2025)

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.

China’s military activity around Taiwan has intensified sharply over the past few years, with the latest “Justice Mission 2025” being the largest-scale set of military drills to date around the island.

This graphic maps out major People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drills in 2022, 2024, and 2025, showing how their scale and positioning have evolved over time.

The data for this visualization comes from Reuters, drawing on announcements from China’s Maritime Safety Administration and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), as well as analysis from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

China’s Military Drills Around Taiwan in 2022 and 2024

“Justice Mission 2025” is the latest set of military drills around the island of Taiwan, following two major military exercises in 2022 and 2024.

China’s 2022 military drills marked a major escalation in response to then–U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

Following the visit, the PLA launched large-scale exercises encircling the island, with missiles fired over Taiwan along with naval and air forces operating in close proximity. Drill zones overlapped with Taiwan’s territorial waters, breaking with past norms.

In 2024, the PLA again conducted drills around Taiwan, reinforcing patterns established two years earlier. These drills helped normalize a higher level of Chinese military presence around Taiwan, with a clear message that such pressure was no longer exceptional, but part of an ongoing posture.

“Justice Mission 2025” Drills Simulate Taiwan Blockade

The most recent drills, code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” include live-fire components and represent the largest and most comprehensive set of exercises to date. For reference, China’s armed forces far outnumber Taiwan’s in nearly every category.

According to the PLA Eastern Theater Command, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force units were deployed around Taiwan, with the drills focused on sea-air combat readiness patrols, joint assaults, and blockades of key ports and areas.

PLA spokesperson Shi Yi described the drills as a “stern warning” against Taiwan independence forces and external interference, calling them a necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty, as outlined in an official release from China’s Ministry of National Defense.

These drills come amid newly heightened regional tensions after comments by Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, who suggested that an attack on Taiwan would result in a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about Taiwan and its essential role in the global technology industry, check out this graphic that charts Taiwan’s rising tech exports to the United States.