10 Statistics That Make Us Feel Better About The World

It is hard to tell if things are getting better or worse around the world. Terrorism is at an all-time high, an economic meltdown seems inevitable, genocide in Africa and Asia is still rampant, environmental issue are only compounding, and technology seems to be causing a brand new set of problems. We are living in an age of transition, the future seems quite uncertain at this point, but all is not lost. There are plenty of positives that can still be observed today and focusing on these might be a good way to dig ourselves out of the hole we are in. Here is a list of 10 positive statistics regarding the state of the world.

Drop In Illiteracy

The best way to beat a majority of the problems in the world is by educating people about the issues. The illiteracy rate in the world has dropped from 46% in 1970 to 18% at this point.

Sanity In Europe

Europe has become quite the safe haven at this point of time, but things were quite gruesome during the middle ages. The murder rate in the continent has fallen by 35 times from the middle ages to the 1900’s.

Fighting Slavery

Although slavery still exists today, and the number of slaves in the world is still quite large, slavery is banned in every country in the world. At least the legislation is on the right side of the battle at this point.

Drop In Violent Crimes

The US has managed to pull back the numbers in terms of annual violent crimes. The number of violent crimes fell from 750 per 100,000 Americans to about 450 in 2009.

War And Peace

Most of the people in the world today will have to deal with lesser war-related issues than any other point in human history. Just a century ago, people had to deal with two world wars. That level of conflict seems almost unbelievable today.

Positive Re-Enforcement

There has been a striking correlation between incarceration rates and crime rates. Countries with lower incarceration rates has seen a drastic decrease in the crime rates over the years. Similarly, those countries that abolished the death penalty also saw a major drop in crime rates.

Global Connectivity

The internet has made the world a much smaller place today, and everything is better off because of it. The connectivity in the world in 1995 was almost negligible, with only one percent of the world having access to the internet. That number has jumped up to 40 percent today.

Social Awareness

The past century has seen more laws being passed against racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination than ever before. These injustices still exist today, but the numbers are quickly dropping.

More Smiles Per Hour

According to the global happiness index, nearly every country in the world has seen a rise in the happiness levels over he past few decades.

Rise Of The Middle Class

The middle class is better off today than ever before in history. The majority of people in the middle class have more access to goods and services than ever before as well. Television sets, mobiles, fridges and other important commodities are now a lot more affordable.