A Data Story

Every issue takes one public dataset and turns it into an animated, interactive story you can explore.

Latest story An egg carton of 132 cups: one holds a rabbit and 130 hold chickens, the number of chickens slaughtered for meat for every rabbit in 2024, by FAO estimates.
No. 014October 25, 2026Food8 chapters

Pecking Order

In 2024 the world slaughtered 130 chickens for meat for every rabbit, up from 24 in 1961. Rabbits are famous for breeding fast, and one gives 86% of a chicken's meat. So why did the chicken win? 64 years of farm figures from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

  • In 2024 the world slaughtered 78.5 billion chickens and 604 million rabbits and hares for meat, by FAO estimates: 130 to 1, up from 24 to 1 in 1961.
  • Per animal a rabbit gives 86% of a chicken's meat (1,402 g against 1,634 g in 2024), but a meat hen has 100 young a year to a rabbit doe's 40, FAO's 1986 rabbit handbook reports.
  • Chicken meat grew 17-fold since 1961 and has out-produced pork since 2023; France produced 77% less rabbit meat in 2024 than in 1990, on official figures.
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More stories
  1. Bar chart of what $1 of shopping in September 1972 cost in June 2026 for seven groups of the Australian CPI: alcohol and tobacco $39.04, housing $15.94, all groups $13.30, communication $2.70.
    No. 013October 23, 2026Money

    Small Change (Australia)

    A dollar's worth of shopping in 1948 cost $39.50 in mid-2026 on Australia's consumer price index. Since 1980, a dollar's worth of TVs and computers has become 4.3 cents, while tobacco costs more than 210 times its 1972 price. Prices since 1948 in Australia's capital cities, from the ABS.

    $1 of shopping in the September quarter of 1948 cost $39.50 in the June quarter of 2026 on the ABS consumer price index.

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  2. The 12 UK regions and nations on a ladder of employment rates for people aged 16 to 64 in 2026, from the East of England at 78.3% to the North East at 71.1%: a gap of 7.2 points, down from 12.0 in 1992
    No. 012October 21, 2026Work

    Closing Ranks (UK)

    In 1992 the share of working-age people with a job was 12.0 points higher in the UK's best region than in its worst. In 2026 the gap was 7.2 points, the narrowest in 35 years by a whisker, yet the same three regions still hold the top three places. Employment in every UK region from the Office for National Statistics.

    In 1992 the share of people aged 16 to 64 in work ran from 73.8% in the South East to 61.8% in Northern Ireland, a 12.0-point gap. In 2026 it ran from 78.3% to 71.1%: 7.2 points, the narrowest in 35 years, though only 0.3 points below 2023.

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  3. A mosaic of 1,000 small square tiles, one per baby born, with 4 dark tiles for the European Union's 3.9 deaths before age 5 per 1,000 births in 2024, the lowest of any world region
    No. 011October 18, 2026Society

    Safe Hands

    Europe isn't the richest region in the world, and its people work the fewest hours, yet the European Union is where the fewest people die young. In the EU, 3.9 of every 1,000 babies die before age five, the lowest of any world region; worldwide, 37.4. Newborns, mothers and people on the road are safest there too. In 1990 the EU was second on every one of these measures that goes back that far; by 2000 it was first. Since 2010 it has also had the lowest chance of adults dying before 70 of chronic disease. From World Bank, Penn World Table, World Happiness Report and UN Development Programme data.

    In the EU, 3.9 of every 1,000 babies die before age five (2024), the lowest rate of any world region; North America's is 6.4 and the world's 37.4. In 1990 the EU was second, at 12.1.

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  4. Score-style chart of geomagnetic storm days each year from 1932 to 2026, falling from a 1950s average of 115.5 a year to 37.7 in the 2010s, with 2026 at 51 so far
    No. 010October 13, 2026Environment

    Light Years

    In the 1950s the Earth's magnetic field was stirred to storm level on about 116 days a year. In the 2010s it was on about 38. Every day of the Kp index since 1932: how often the magnetic field storms, in which months, and how 2026 compares.

    In the 1950s geomagnetic storms came on 115.5 days a year. In the 2010s they came on 37.7, and in 2020–2025 on 47.5.

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  5. Scatter of 668 Nobel science laureate-prizes by award year and age, 1901 to 2026, with the median age rising from 49 in 1901–1925 to 68 in 2001–2026
    No. 009October 12, 2026Science

    Golden Years

    In 1901–1925 the median Nobel laureate in physics, chemistry or medicine was 49. In 2001–2026 it was 68. 126 years of who won, how old they were, where they worked and what the prize was worth, from the Nobel Prize's own data.

    In 1901–1925 the median Nobel laureate in the sciences was 49 in the year they won. In 2001–2026 the median was 68.

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  6. A line chart of US car repair and new-car prices after inflation since 1935: repairs climb to 70.9% above their 1950 level while like-for-like new cars fall to 67.6% below it
    No. 008October 9, 2026Money

    Shop Rate (US)

    After inflation, getting a car repaired cost more in 2025 than in any year since 1935, while a like-for-like new car cost less than in any year BLS has priced it. Repairs cost 22.8 times their 1950 price, new cars 4.3 times. Ninety years of car prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    After inflation, car repairs cost more in 2025 than in any year back to 1935, and a like-for-like new car less than in any year BLS has priced it.

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  7. Bar chart of the house price index in Q2 2026 (2015 = 100) for 28 European countries: highest Hungary at 389.6, lowest Finland at 97.5, the only one below its 2015 level.
    No. 007October 6, 2026Home

    Raising the Roof (Europe)

    A home that cost €100,000 in early 2005 would be priced at €201,800 today on the EU's house price index; after inflation the rise is 21.4%. Twenty-one years of house prices in 28 European countries, from Eurostat.

    Across the EU, house prices are 2.02 times what they were in early 2005; after inflation, they rose 21.4%.

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  8. A parking lot of 100 bays seen from above, one for every 100 new vehicles Americans bought in 2025: 17 blue cars and 83 red-orange light trucks
    No. 006October 3, 2026Money

    Truck Stop (US)

    In 1976, 77 of every 100 new vehicles Americans bought were cars. In 2025, 17 were. A new car costs about 32 weeks of pay, close to the 30 it took in 1967, but the light trucks that replaced it cost 52% more.

    Of every 100 new vehicles Americans bought, 77 were cars in 1976 and 17 in 2025, the fewest cars (2.73 million) of any year back to 1967.

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  9. Line chart of the EU average price of a litre of petrol, weekly from January 2005 to September 2026, doubling from €1.04 to a record €2.10 and passing the June 2022 peak of €2.03
    No. 005October 3, 2026Money

    Fuel Gauge (EU)

    A litre of petrol costs the average EU driver a record €2.10, twice the €1.04 of January 2005. After inflation, 2012 was dearer. Twenty-one years of pump prices in 27 countries, from the EU's Weekly Oil Bulletin.

    A litre of petrol in the EU cost a record €2.10 on 28 September 2026, past the €2.03 peak of June 2022.

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  10. Line chart of nights spent in EU tourist accommodation from 2005 to 2025, with domestic and foreign guests both halving in 2020 and foreign guests recovering to 1.54 billion nights in 2025
    No. 004October 1, 2026Travel

    Guest Book (EU)

    The EU spent a record 3.1 billion nights in hotels, holiday homes and campsites in 2025, almost half of them by foreign guests. Twenty years of who sleeps where, from Eurostat.

    The EU spent a record 3.1 billion nights in tourist accommodation in 2025, up from 2.0 billion in 2005.

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  11. A plane drawing a contrail over a line of monthly passenger movements at Australian airports, 1985 to 2026, with the line breaking off in April 2020
    No. 003September 29, 2026Travel

    Flight Path (AU)

    Forty years of Australian flying, from 33.4 million passenger movements in 1985 to 164.3 million in 2019, and the spring the sky emptied.

    In April 2020, Australia's airports handled 360,694 passenger movements, 2.6% of April 2019.

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  12. Bar chart race of the most popular American baby names, drawn as name-tag stickers
    No. 002September 29, 2026Names

    Name Tags (US)

    146 years of American baby names, from Mary's long reign to the rise of Liam, told through Social Security records.

    In 1947, 99,692 American girls were named Linda. In 2025, 294 were.

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  13. Line chart of employment rates for Canadian women and men aged 25 to 54 from 1976 to 2026, with the gap between them closing from 42.6 to 5.6 points
    No. 001September 29, 2026Work

    Clocking In (CA)

    Fifty years of who works in Canada, and what they're paid, told through 608 monthly Labour Force Surveys.

    In 1976, 48 of every 100 Canadian women aged 25 to 54 had a job. Today 81 do.

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