It is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales,[1] and was founded by
Max Roser, a social
historian and development economist. The research team is based at the
University of Oxford.[2] The organization is chaired by
Hetan Shah.
Content
Our World in Data uses interactive charts and maps to illustrate research findings, often taking a long-term view to show how global
living conditions have changed over time.
Compilation of graphs from the organization, showing the overall global percentages of the last two centuries, in six factors: extreme poverty, democracy, basic education, vaccination, literacy, and child mortality
Cartogram showing the distribution of the global population. Each of the 15,266 pixels represents the home country of 500,000 people.
Global CO2 emissions by world region since 1750
History
Roser began his work on the project in 2011,[3] adding a research team at the
University of Oxford later on. In the first years, Roser developed the publication together with inequality researcher Sir
Tony Atkinson.[3]Hannah Ritchie joined in 2017 and became Head of Research.[4]Edouard Mathieu joined in 2020 and became Head of Data.[5] The organization began the
COVID-19 pandemic with six staff members, and grew to 20 by late 2021.[6][7]
Similarly, the team built and maintained a global dataset on
COVID-19 testing which was used by the United Nations, the White House, the World Health Organization, and epidemiologists and researchers,[24][25][26] and also published data such as hospitalizations and computations of excess deaths.[27]
In 2021, the team began campaigning for the
International Energy Agency to make the data it collects from national governments publicly available.[28]
Funding and collaborations
Global Change Data Lab, the non-profit that publishes Our World in Data and the open-access data tools that make the online publication possible, is funded through a mix of grants, sponsors, and reader donations.[29]
The first grant to support the research project was given by the
Nuffield Foundation, a London-based foundation focused on social policy.[30]
Reader donations are also a major source of funding. In 2020, more than 3,000 individuals supported the project,[33] exceeding 4,000 donors by 2023. The list of donors includes
Jamie Metzl and YouTuber
Hank Green.[32]
The research team collaborated with the science YouTube channel
Kurzgesagt.[34][35]
In the
coronavirus pandemic, the team partnered with epidemiologists from
Harvard's Chan School of Public Health and the Robert Koch Institute to study countries that have responded successfully in the early phase of the pandemic.[36] Janine Aron and
John Muellbauer worked with OWID to research
excess mortality during the pandemic.[37]
In 2022,
FTX's Future Fund offered Our World in Data a $7.5 million grant to support their activities. Max Roser told Fortune that Our World in Data's board of trustees ultimately rejected the grant money after conducting due diligence and other checks.[38]
Usage
In 2021, the Our World in Data website had 89 million unique visitors.[39]
It is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales,[1] and was founded by
Max Roser, a social
historian and development economist. The research team is based at the
University of Oxford.[2] The organization is chaired by
Hetan Shah.
Content
Our World in Data uses interactive charts and maps to illustrate research findings, often taking a long-term view to show how global
living conditions have changed over time.
Compilation of graphs from the organization, showing the overall global percentages of the last two centuries, in six factors: extreme poverty, democracy, basic education, vaccination, literacy, and child mortality
Cartogram showing the distribution of the global population. Each of the 15,266 pixels represents the home country of 500,000 people.
Global CO2 emissions by world region since 1750
History
Roser began his work on the project in 2011,[3] adding a research team at the
University of Oxford later on. In the first years, Roser developed the publication together with inequality researcher Sir
Tony Atkinson.[3]Hannah Ritchie joined in 2017 and became Head of Research.[4]Edouard Mathieu joined in 2020 and became Head of Data.[5] The organization began the
COVID-19 pandemic with six staff members, and grew to 20 by late 2021.[6][7]
Similarly, the team built and maintained a global dataset on
COVID-19 testing which was used by the United Nations, the White House, the World Health Organization, and epidemiologists and researchers,[24][25][26] and also published data such as hospitalizations and computations of excess deaths.[27]
In 2021, the team began campaigning for the
International Energy Agency to make the data it collects from national governments publicly available.[28]
Funding and collaborations
Global Change Data Lab, the non-profit that publishes Our World in Data and the open-access data tools that make the online publication possible, is funded through a mix of grants, sponsors, and reader donations.[29]
The first grant to support the research project was given by the
Nuffield Foundation, a London-based foundation focused on social policy.[30]
Reader donations are also a major source of funding. In 2020, more than 3,000 individuals supported the project,[33] exceeding 4,000 donors by 2023. The list of donors includes
Jamie Metzl and YouTuber
Hank Green.[32]
The research team collaborated with the science YouTube channel
Kurzgesagt.[34][35]
In the
coronavirus pandemic, the team partnered with epidemiologists from
Harvard's Chan School of Public Health and the Robert Koch Institute to study countries that have responded successfully in the early phase of the pandemic.[36] Janine Aron and
John Muellbauer worked with OWID to research
excess mortality during the pandemic.[37]
In 2022,
FTX's Future Fund offered Our World in Data a $7.5 million grant to support their activities. Max Roser told Fortune that Our World in Data's board of trustees ultimately rejected the grant money after conducting due diligence and other checks.[38]
Usage
In 2021, the Our World in Data website had 89 million unique visitors.[39]