People’s lives are being shaped by shifts happening worldwide at a scale that can be hard to hold in your head. Some global rates are improving and others are stalling or worsening, like life expectancy sitting at 72.4 years while education gaps persist. Even the digital world is expanding fast, with 4.99 million average cost of a breach for healthcare organizations and 4.95 billion mobile social users, which makes it feel like the data is moving quicker than policy can catch up.
Key Takeaways
- 100+ births per 1,000 people per year is typical for many countries; globally, the crude birth rate is 18.5 births per 1,000 population in 2020 (World Bank, crude birth rate)
- The global crude death rate was 7.8 deaths per 1,000 population in 2020 (World Bank, crude death rate)
- Global life expectancy at birth was 72.4 years in 2019 (World Bank, life expectancy at birth)
- 38 million people were living with HIV in 2023 (WHO/UNAIDS)
- 12.2 million new cancer cases were estimated globally in 2022 (WHO GLOBOCAN estimates; IARC)
- 13.0 million deaths were estimated in 2020 from air pollution worldwide (WHO)
- 151 million children were not in school in 2022 (UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report/Institute data)
- 244 million children and youth were out of school in 2021 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
- 53% of children worldwide do not meet minimum proficiency in mathematics (World Bank Learning Poverty)
- 2.5 billion people lack social protection coverage (ILO World Social Protection Report 2020-22)
- 9.2% of working-age population was not in employment, education, or training (NEET) in 2021 (ILO/World Bank)
- $669 billion remittances flows worldwide in 2023 (World Bank Remittance Data, 2023 estimate)
- 5.44 billion unique mobile subscribers are active worldwide in 2023 (ITU)
- 4.95 billion people had a social media account in early 2024 (DataReportal)
- 3.3 billion people were using social media on their mobile devices (DataReportal, 2024)
Global health, education, and digital risks and opportunities are shaping lives worldwide, from HIV to cyberattacks.
Related reading
01 · Category
Global Demographics3 stats
01
100+ births per 1,000 people per year is typical for many countries; globally, the crude birth rate is 18.5 births per 1,000 population in 2020 (World Bank, crude birth rate)
02
The global crude death rate was 7.8 deaths per 1,000 population in 2020 (World Bank, crude death rate)
03
Global life expectancy at birth was 72.4 years in 2019 (World Bank, life expectancy at birth)
Interpretation
Global Demographics Interpretation
From a global demographics perspective, the world is adding people more quickly than it is losing them, with a crude birth rate of 18.5 births per 1,000 and a lower crude death rate of 7.8 per 1,000 in 2020, alongside a relatively high life expectancy of 72.4 years in 2019.
02 · Category
Health & Mortality4 stats
01
38 million people were living with HIV in 2023 (WHO/UNAIDS)
02
12.2 million new cancer cases were estimated globally in 2022 (WHO GLOBOCAN estimates; IARC)
03
13.0 million deaths were estimated in 2020 from air pollution worldwide (WHO)
04
5.4 million deaths were attributed to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene in 2019 (WHO)
Interpretation
Health & Mortality Interpretation
Under the Health & Mortality category, the scale of preventable and treatable disease and environmental harm is stark, with 38 million people living with HIV in 2023 alongside 12.2 million new cancer cases in 2022 and millions more deaths driven by air pollution and unsafe water and hygiene, totaling 13.0 million deaths from air pollution in 2020 and 5.4 million in 2019.
03 · Category
Education & Skills5 stats
01
151 million children were not in school in 2022 (UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report/Institute data)
02
244 million children and youth were out of school in 2021 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
03
53% of children worldwide do not meet minimum proficiency in mathematics (World Bank Learning Poverty)
04
34.5% of adults worldwide have completed at least upper-secondary education (UNESCO UIS, education attainment)
05
27% of employers reported they will increase hiring for AI-related roles in 2023-2027 (WEF Future of Jobs 2023)
Interpretation
Education & Skills Interpretation
With 244 million children and youth out of school in 2021 and 53% of children lacking minimum math proficiency, the Education and Skills challenge is both a coverage and a learning gap, even as only 34.5% of adults reach at least upper-secondary education and employers plan to grow AI hiring.
More related reading
04 · Category
Workforce & Income3 stats
01
2.5 billion people lack social protection coverage (ILO World Social Protection Report 2020-22)
02
9.2% of working-age population was not in employment, education, or training (NEET) in 2021 (ILO/World Bank)
03
$669 billion remittances flows worldwide in 2023 (World Bank Remittance Data, 2023 estimate)
Interpretation
Workforce & Income Interpretation
For the Workforce & Income picture, the scale is clear as 2.5 billion people lack social protection and 9.2% of working age youth are NEET in 2021, even as $669 billion in remittances in 2023 shows how much household income support still relies on workers abroad.
05 · Category
Digital & Connectivity4 stats
01
5.44 billion unique mobile subscribers are active worldwide in 2023 (ITU)
02
4.95 billion people had a social media account in early 2024 (DataReportal)
03
3.3 billion people were using social media on their mobile devices (DataReportal, 2024)
04
$678 billion expected global spending on public cloud services in 2024 (Gartner)
Interpretation
Digital & Connectivity Interpretation
With 5.44 billion active mobile subscribers and 4.95 billion social media users, public cloud spending is set to reach $678 billion in 2024, showing how mobile driven connectivity is fueling the infrastructure demand behind digital services.
06 · Category
Cybersecurity & Risk4 stats
01
$188 billion is forecast for global cybersecurity spending in 2024 (Gartner)
02
29% of breaches involved malware (Verizon DBIR 2024)
03
$4.99 million average cost of a data breach for healthcare organizations in 2023 (IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023)
04
1 in 3 organizations experienced a ransomware attack in 2023 (IBM Security study)
Interpretation
Cybersecurity & Risk Interpretation
With global cybersecurity spending forecast to reach $188 billion in 2024 as 29% of breaches involve malware and IBM reports 1 in 3 organizations saw a ransomware attack in 2023, the Cybersecurity & Risk landscape is clearly being shaped by fast escalating threats that can become especially costly for healthcare, where the average breach cost hit $4.99 million in 2023.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Marcus Engström. (2026, February 13). People Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/people-statistics
MLA
Marcus Engström. "People Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/people-statistics.
Chicago
Marcus Engström. 2026. "People Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/people-statistics.
Sources & references
23 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+10 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)