Black women four times as likely to die in pregnancy

The 2023 report published by MBRRACE, the collaboration appointed by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership to run the national Maternal, Newborn and Infant clinical Outcome Review Programme in the UK, highlights a gruesome truth in terms of maternal mortality (death of the mother during or up to six weeks after pregnancy). Between the years 2019 and 2021, data collected by MBRRACE showed that women from Black ethnic backgrounds were almost four times as likely to die during or up to six weeks after pregnancy than White women ; for Asian women, the rate of maternal mortality was almost twice as high as for White women.

MBRRACE also found that women living in deprived areas, no matter their ethnic background, were twice as likely to die during or directly after pregnancy than women from affluent areas. 12 % of the women who died during or up to a year after pregnancy over the period covered by the report were at multiple severe disavantages, including mental health issues, domestic abuse or substance use, and maternal healthcare staff were often expected to care for women with those disadvantages without proper training. Mental health-related causes also accounted for almost 40 % of the deaths occurring six weeks to a year after the end of pregnancy.

Among the highest causes of maternal deaths between 2019 and 2021, Covid-19 accounted for 14 % of all fatalities during or up to six weeks after the end of pregnancy, with the report noting that confused messaging and vaccine hesitancy may have played a part.

Source: Statista

China Steps Up Military Spending

According to SIPRI data, China has increased its military expenditure by almost 900 percent since 1992. At around $300 billion in 2022, the Chinese spent significantly more than the Russians (around $72 billion), but their spending was still well below that of the U.S. (around $812 billion). China is the second-biggest spender in total military budget after the United States.

Still, the Chinese spending spree has raised eyebrows worldwide. It came back into the spotlight last week when the reference to a "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan was dropped from a government report presented at the Chinese National People's Congress. At the same event, it was announced that the Chinese defense budget was to grow another 7.2 percent in 2024. The South China Morning Post out of Hong Kong reports that the Chinese military budget has pivoted towards combat readiness and preparation for war. Part of the increased Chinese military investment is going towards more "advanced technology, science, logistics and key weaponry and equipment", the newspaper reports.

Source: Statista

A Matter of Faith

For many people around the world, religion plays a prominent role in their everyday lives, while others embrace secular ideas. According to a Statista Consumer Insights survey, carried out between April 2022 and March 2023, many of the most religious countries in the world can be found in Africa and the Middle East. Yet, for the countries included in the survey, Asian nations Pakistan and Indonesia together with Egypt scored highest with 99 percent of all adults in the surveyed age group professing to a religion.

The most secular country in the survey was China, with only 22 percent of the adult population saying that they followed a religion. The number is not surprising given the fact that religious faith was marginalized under Communism in the country. Other relatively secular places in Asia included Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

In Europe, the Czech Republic (27 percent follow a religion) is the country with the fewest people who declare themselves believers – a fact that is in part also tied to the country’s communist past. Further East in Europe, religion has not been stifled as much despite a socialist past – for example in Romania, Serbia or Lithuania and also in Russia. Poland, the home of famous pope John Paul II, also showed more religious tendencies than many of its Western European neighbors. In the West of the continent, Ireland was the most religious, while in Southern Europe, religion was most widespread in Greece, Italy and Portugal.

Peru was the only country surveyed on the American continent with more than 80 percent saying they followed a religion. Most other countries here – with the exception of Canada – did nevertheless score consistently high on religious faith with little difference between North and South.

Source: Statista

The Countries Trusting the Government Most and Least

A new report sheds light on the level of trust - or in many cases distrust - in governments around the world. According to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer, Saudi Arabia came first for government credibility among the public in 2023. The United Kingdom is at the opposite end of the scale, with its government trusted by a mere 30 percent of the populace. This is a drop of 7 percentage points since the same time one year prior. Of the selected countries in this chart, Malaysia saw the greatest improvements in trust for its government since 2022, rising 13 percentage points to 67 percent.This chart shows the share of people that trust their national government in selected countries in 2023.

Source: Statista

Cities with the Highest Domestic Tourism Spending: 2032 Forecast

By 2032, Shanghai is forecast to generate 88% of the city's tourism revenue from tourist spending within China alone. This would equate to USD $163bn in domestic spending, according to a study of 82 major tourism cities around the world by the World Travel and Tourism Council. This is not the only city that Chinese domestic tourists will be flocking to. Beijing, Guangzhou, Sanya and Chengdu are all featured on this top 10 list which is a testament to the sheer size of the country and its population, as well as a rising middle-class with more disposable income for travel.This infographic shows the forecasted domestic spending of selected cities in 2032.

Source: Statista

How the United States' Minimum Wage Compares

Despite efforts in recent years from some political corners to implement a significant increase, the United States' federal minimum wage has been at its current level since 2009.In this infographic, we take a look at how the federal minimum wage compares to other countries around the world. OECD data shows that the U.S. trails many developed countries in the minimum wage league, such as France where the rate of pay was $13.80 in 2022 (purchasing power parity).It is however also important to highlight that some U.S. states have moved to introduce higher minimum wage thresholds with some implementing a minimum hourly pay higher than $13.This chart shows the real hourly minimum wage in selected OECD countries.

Source: Statista

Accommodation Barometer: How do Indian hoteliers feel about their recent business development?

More than half of surveyed Indian hoteliers reported good or very good business development in the past 6 months, according to the inaugural Indian Accommodation Barometer. Only 13% of respondents reported negative business development. Close to half of hoteliers also reported positive sentiments towards their current economic situation and future development. The Indian Accommodation Barometer 2023 is the first study of Indian hoteliers conducted by Statista in collaboration with Booking.com, surveying accommodation executives and managers. Click here to download a copy of your own.This graphic shows Indian hoteliers' sentiments towards their recent business development.

Source: Statista

The Highest-Grossing Biopics of All Time

Napoleon, directed by Gladiator’s Ridley Scott and starring Joaquin Phoenix, is hitting cinemas on Wednesday 22 November. The new historical biopic chronicles the story of Napoleon Bonaparte, France's famous military general who climbed his way to the top, becoming the nation’s Emperor in 1804.

Scott’s latest movie has already received an array of criticism, ranging from pointing out factual inaccuracies to recognition of it as a “bombastic” epic. But the jury’s still out on how it will perform in ticket sales. With this in mind, the following chart provides some insight into the most successful movies of the genre, at least in terms of worldwide box office revenue.

According to data by Box Office Mojo and compiled by Shawn S. Lealos and Stephen Barker of Screenrant, the movie arguably best received, according to this metric, is Oppenheimer, which came out in cinemas earlier this year. Based on the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is sometimes called the “father of the atomic bomb”, the movie brought in just over $950 million in revenue. In second place comes Bohemian Rhapsody, a tale of Queen’s lead singer Freddie Mercury, having pulled in roughly $911 million. In rank 3 comes American Sniper, a story about U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle who was one of the deadliest snipers in history, with a global box office revenue of around $548 million.

Source: Statista

The Countries With the Highest Inflation Rates

Venezuela is the country with the highest inflation in the world, with an increase in consumer prices estimated at 360 percent in 2023, according to the latest figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), published in October. This is the tenth consecutive year that the inflation rate in Venezuela is one of the highest on the planet, although it is significantly lower than in 2018, when it reached an astronomical value of 65,000 percent. As the following infographic shows, three other countries are also in the grip of especially high inflation this year: Zimbabwe, with an increase in consumer prices estimated at 315 percent, as well as Sudan (256 percent) and Argentina (122 percent).

Source: Statista

The Cities With the Slowest Traffic

London was the slowest city center to drive through last year, according to TomTom Traffic Index 2022. On average, Londoners could expect to take 36 minutes and 20 seconds to travel just 10 kilometers last year and to sit in traffic for an estimated 325 hours.

Two Indian cities also feature in the top eight roundup: Bengaluru with an average travel time of 29 minutes and 10 seconds per 10 km and Pune with an average of 27 minutes and 20 seconds. In ninth and tenth position were Lima, Peru with 27 minutes and 10 seconds as well as Manila, the Philippines with 27 minutes per 10km.

TomTom reports that the rise in workers heading back to the office in 2022 was met with an increase in travel times across nearly two thirds of the analyzed cities. With the year’s energy price hikes the company also looked at how much drivers were paying throughout the year, finding that with congestion, fuel consumption increased too.

Source: Statista