Category Archives: Rankings

The Quality of Democracy by Country

Global Democracy Ranking released the Democracy Ranking for the year 2012, which shows the quality of democracy around the world.

Several indicators were used to calculate the Global Democracy Ranking. Those indicators were selected from a vast variety of dimensions such as politics, economy, environment, gender equality, education, health, and knowledge.

As seen in the map above, countries ranked at the top (dark green), those with the highest quality of democracy include Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, and Austria. In contrast, we find countries where democracy is at serious risk or where it is no longer a viable system (brown). Among these countries we have Yemen, Syria, Libya, Togo, Guinea-Bissau, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, and Haiti.

Source: Global Democracy Ranking: Democracy Ranking 2012

U.S. Mobile Phone Subscribers Talk the Most

On average, U.S. mobile subscribers talk on the phone 356 minutes, or roughly 6 hours per month. That number is double that of the Turkey, and 4.5 times that of Germany. That estimate is the highest among selected OECD countries.

Canadians are not far behind. The outgoing traffic per mobile subscriber is an average 345 minutes (5 hours and 45 minutes) in a single month.

Source: Statista: Americans Talk on Their Mobile Phones More Than Anyone Else

Basic Salary of Lawmakers by Country

How much lawmakers are paid is a sensitive issue especially in times of economic austerity, or in countries where the majority of the population lives in extreme poverty conditions.

In this chart prepared by The Economist, we can see how much lawmakers are being paid in different countries across the globe in U.S. dollars (left), and as a ratio of the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (right).

In Nigeria, for example, lawmakers receive a basic salary of $189,000, 116 times the country’s GDP per capita. In Kenya a lawmaker makes a basic salary of $74,500, 76 times the country’s GDP per capita. Other countries were lawmakers receive the heftiest salaries include Ghana, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, and India. It is worth pointing out that most of these countries are some of the poorest in the world.

In comparison, in the wealthiest nations a lawmaker’s salary as a ratio of GDP is much smaller. In Britain, that ratio is 2.7 of the GDP per capita.

The Failed States Index 2013

Fund For Peace just released the Failed State Index (FSI) 2013. The FSI measures the level of risk in each country using a series of risk indicators such as mounting demographic pressures, massive movement of refugees, uneven economic development, poverty, legitimacy of the state, progressive deterioration of human services, violation of human rights, violation of the rule of law, security apparatus, intervention of external actors, etc. The FSI is calculated for a total of 178 countries.

Nations ranking at the top for failed states (red) include Somalia, Congo, Sudan, and South Sudan. Unfortunately, most of the world’s nations seem to be under a warning (orange) for failed states, from Africa to Asia to Latin America.

For the complete list of countries, rankings and scores, please visit: Fund For Peace: Failed State Index (FSI) 2013

Violence Against Women by World Region

In this chart published by The Economist we look at two sets of data about violence against women.

The first one shows that more than a third (39%) of homicides of women around the world are committed by a previous or current partner. The numbers are specially shocking for South East Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar [Burma], Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore). The numbers are also high for Latin American and African countries.

The second set of data shows that 30% of women around the world have experienced physical or sexual violence during their lifetime by a former or current partner. The numbers are the highest for Central African countries (Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda), followed by countries in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, etc.), South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), the Andean region of South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia), the Middle East, and North Africa.

Global Carbon Footprint by Country

This original visualization by Stanford Kay shows total carbon emissions by country. Using different colors to differentiate each region, the size of the circle depicts the carbon footprint of each country.

Countries with the largest carbon footprint include China, United States, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Australia, UK, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Taiwan, Ukraine, France, and Spain.

Global Acceptance of Homosexuality

In light of the recent Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, we found this interesting visualization showing the global great divide among nations regarding the acceptance of homosexuality.

Countries where homosexuality is accepted include Spain (88%), Germany (87%), Czech Republic (80%) Canada (80%), Australia (79%), Philippines (73%), Argentina (74%), Italy (74%), Chile (68%), among others.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are countries where homosexuality is less acceptable, or not acceptable at all. Those countries include Nigeria (1%), Pakistan (2%), Tunisia (2%), Ghana (3%), Egypt (3%), Jordan (3%), Indonesia (3%), and Senegal (3%) to name a few.

Source: Pew Research Center: Global Acceptance of Homosexuality

Consumption of Spirits by Country

The Economist compiled a visualization of the highest consumption of selected spirits worldwide. The selected spirits include vodka, rum, scotch whiskey, gin, and tequila.

The largest consumer of vodka is Russia, followed by the United States, Ukraine, Poland among others. The largest consumer of rum is India, followed by the United States, Philippines, and Cuba. The largest consumers of scotch whiskey, gin, and tequila are France, Philippines, and the United States respectively.

Dependency on U.S. Funds to Fight AIDS by Country

The United States provides 60% of the funding to fight the AIDS epidemic worldwide. The highest recipients of this funding are African nations. Other countries include Bolivia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Latin America depends on these funds to fight AIDS too. Latin American nations are recipients of up to 24% of funding from the US along with Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Source: The Nation: Who Depends Most on US Funds to Fight AIDS Epidemic

HIV Infection Rates Among Sex Workers by Country

The United States increased its funding to fight AIDS globally ten years ago. But, to qualify for funding, NGO’s had to enforce an explicit policy against prostitution. Female sex workers are 13.5 times more likely to have contracted the HIV virus, but because of the enforced anti-prostitution policy, female sex workers do not qualify to receive treatment.

This visualization by The Nation shows the rate of HIV infection among sex workers around the world. The highest rates of HIV infection are in Africa, with Swaziland at an staggering 70%.

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