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infobeautiful.bsky.social
Information is Beautiful
@infobeautiful.bsky.social
7.1K followers 35 following 980 posts
Data visualizations & information graphics by David McCandless. Plus favourite finds & graphics from around the web. Making sense of the world - well, trying to - since 2009.

https://linktr.ee/infobeautiful
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infobeautiful.bsky.social
Most Beautiful News of 2024. Our picks of positive trends & amazing achievements 🤩
An infographic titled 'Most Beautiful News of the Year 2024' displaying positive news in colored blocks: environmental wins (Taiwan's wildlife protection, Norway's forest growth), sustainable energy achievements in EU, medical breakthroughs (HPV vaccine success, HIV cure), crime reduction in USA, and environmental initiatives. Created by InformationIsBeautiful. Continuation of positive news infographic showing four major achievements: 47% increase in global bumblebee population, Amazon deforestation at 9-year low, increasing whale populations, and declining breast cancer deaths (518,000 lives saved over 35 years). Box sizes represent significance. Source notation indicates 'size = awesomeness // sources: news reports'.
December 25, 2025 at 5:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Interesting reframing. Cost of aid to #ukraine in cups of coffee per month.

(by @topleadEU)
A map titled "Aid to Ukraine Costs a European 1.2 Cups of Coffee a Month" shows the total bilateral aid provided to Ukraine recalculated into cups of coffee per capita per month. European countries contribute amounts ranging from 0.7 to 7.7 cups, with Scandinavian and Baltic countries contributing the most: Norway at 7.7 cups, Estonia at 6.5 cups, and Latvia at 5.8 cups. The U.S. contributes 2.5 cups per month, while Japan and New Zealand contribute 0.2 and 0.1 cups, respectively. Sources include the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, World Bank, and Mandore Media.
December 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Some good UK deals on our beautiful books out there
📘 63% off Beautiful News- just £9! geni.us/BNEWS
📕 20% off Information is Beautiful geni.us/IIBbook
📙 25% off Knowledge is Beautiful geni.us/KIB25

Info bit.ly/IIB-Books
The cover images of three infographic books by David McCandless: Beautiful News, Knowledge is Beautiful and Information is Beautiful
December 20, 2025 at 12:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Some good USA deals on our beautiful books out there
📘 58% off Beautiful News - geni.us/BNEWS
📕 21% off Knowledge is Beautiful (hardcover) - geni.us/KIB25
📗 42% off The Visual Miscellaneum - geni.us/VMisc25
bit.ly/IIB-Books
The cover images of three infographic books by David McCandless: Beautiful News, Knowledge is Beautiful and The Visual Miscellaneum
December 17, 2025 at 11:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
35 years of The Simpsons - first aired 17th Dec 1989
A heatmap shows the IMDB scores of every Simpson episode up to season 35. High scoring episodes (8.0 and above) are coloured green. Median scoring episodes (7.9-6.0) are coloured brown. Low scoring episodes (less than 6.0) are scored red. The matrix shows a distinct decline in quality of episodes beginning around season 11 and then accelerating from season 20 onwards.
December 17, 2025 at 2:53 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Oil
Voronoi chart visualises the % of world's proven oil reserves by country, divided by OPEC (70.4% of reserves) and NON-OPEC nations (30.6%). Venezuela has the largest reserves at 18% with Saudi Arabia (17%) and Iran (9%) in 2nd & 3rd. Of the NON-OPEC nations, Canada has the largest at 10%, followed by Russia 6% and USA (4%)
December 16, 2025 at 11:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Updated every month: Access the raw datasets behind every #dataviz we've ever released online. The IIB Data Room. 500+ sheets, 1200+ datasets. Continually updated.
informationisbeautiful.net/data/
A table listing various article titles and their corresponding bit.ly links, sorted by publication date from August 2024 to May 2023. The table has four columns: Title, bit.ly link, Published date, and Updated (empty). Topics include 'Per Second', 'WaterWorld', several articles about plastics, 'Two Years of the Russia-Ukraine War', among others. Most links are either geni.us or Google Docs spreadsheet URLs. Dates range from most recent (01 Aug 2024) to oldest (24 May 2023)
December 16, 2025 at 12:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Africa rainfall map

(creator: unknown)
Map of Africa illustrating average rainfall in millimeters per year. A color gradient legend shows that dark blue areas receive over 3000 mm of rainfall annually, transitioning through greens, yellows, oranges, and reds to indicate progressively lower rainfall, with red areas receiving less than 100 mm per year. The map shows high rainfall concentrated in the central and western equatorial regions, decreasing significantly towards the north (Sahara Desert) and the southwest (Namib Desert). Eastern Africa also shows significant rainfall variations. Insets show rainfall data for Cape Verde and Seychelles.
December 15, 2025 at 3:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Global antidepressant use

(source OECD, CDC)
A bar chart showing the number of people per 1,000 who take antidepressants in various countries. The countries with the highest rates are the United States, Iceland, and Australia. The data is sourced from the OECD and CDC.
December 14, 2025 at 11:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
The next total solar eclipses. Time to book your tickets!
Two globe maps of the world reveal the paths of the next total eclipses: Aug 2026 Spain to Greenland, Aug 2027 North Africa, July 2028 Australia, Nov 2030 South Africa.
December 14, 2025 at 5:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
World's Best Hangover Cures
A black background infographic showing five different hangover cures. Traditional: a glass with egg yolk, lemon juice, and Worcester sauce, topped with pepper. American: similar but without lemon juice. Dutch: a glass of beer. Germanic: a wide bowl containing pickled herring with red mustard berries and purple juniper berries. Isotonic: a glass with water, salt, and sugar. Created by Information is Beautiful. Page 1 of 3. Continuing the hangover cures infographic on black background. Romanian: a bowl containing cow's stomach, root vegetable soup, cream, and vinegar. Chinese: a simple cup of strong green tea. Polish: a glass of bright green sour pickle juice with a red garnish. Hedonistic: a tall glass mixing gin, brandy, lime juice, and ginger ale. Icelandic: a glass containing water, honey, and cider vinegar. Created by Information is Beautiful. Page 2 of 3. Final part of the hangover cures infographic on black background. Italian: a cup of coffee. French: a cup of strong coffee with added salt. British: a bowl containing layers of baked beans, egg, bacon, and sausage. Medical: a glass of water with diarrhea rehydration sachet. Latest Science: a glass of water with ibuprofen/advil before sleep. Created by David McCandless for Information is Beautiful. Page 3 of 3.
December 13, 2025 at 3:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Just, y’know, a plot of all objects in the universe...🤯
A fascinating plot that provides a representation of various objects and phenomena in the universe across different scales of mass (y-axis) and size (x-axis), spanning from the very smallest (quantum scales) to the very largest (cosmological scales)
December 13, 2025 at 12:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
All of US history took place while Pluto orbited the Sun - once
Four circles represent the orbits Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The latter is the outer circle. A timeline of the US history is mapped onto it. Milestones like independence and the moon landings are mapped. We see that while all of US history happened Pluto orbited the Sun just once
December 12, 2025 at 7:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
What’s actually worth doing to make a climate difference, according to data?
informationisbeautiful.net/visualizatio...
A bar chart depicts personal actions that can reduce emissions, measured in tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. Drop the car is the first option with 2.4 tonnes saved. Take fewer flights is 2nd with 1.6. Switching to a plant-based diet, reducing food waste, changing to LED lightbulbs also included
December 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
An unhealthy outlier...
ourworldindata.org/grapher/life...
A line chart comparing life expectancy vs. health expenditure per capita from 1970 to 2022 across multiple countries. The y-axis shows life expectancy (60-85 years), x-axis shows health expenditure ($0-$10,000). Lines track each country's progress, with the United States notably showing high expenditure but lower life expectancy than peers like Japan and Switzerland. Countries are color-coded by continent. Source: Our World in Data
December 11, 2025 at 7:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Watch out! We are in the danger zone
A line chart shows break-up times over the year, according to Facebook status updates. This indicates that spring break, as well as summer and winter holidays are high season for break-ups. Also Valentine’s Day shows a peak.
December 10, 2025 at 3:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
One 18 inch pizza has 'more pizza' than 2 x 12 inch pizzas!
via @fermatslibrary
Comparison of pizza sizes and their areas. Left: one 18-inch diameter pepperoni pizza with area = π(18/2)² = 254 in². Right: two 12-inch diameter pepperoni pizzas with combined area = 2π(12/2)² = 226 in². Demonstrates that one large pizza has more surface area than two smaller ones
December 9, 2025 at 5:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Created this concept map of the left vs right political spectrum 15 years ago with Stephanie Posavec. Still relevant?

(note: this is the US version, the only country where the left = blue)

Full size: bit.ly/LvRUSA
Poster: bit.ly/LvRU-Poster
Non-USA ‘world’ version (where left=red)
bit.ly/LvRWorld
A detailed concept map comparing left-wing and right-wing political ideologies, split into two mirrored halves (blue for left, red for right). The map covers key aspects including government types, economic approaches, social values, family structures, and beliefs. The left side emphasizes progressivism, equality, and social support, while the right side focuses on traditionalism, individual freedom, and established order. The diagram uses icons, text, and connecting lines to illustrate the relationships between concepts. A detailed concept map comparing left-wing and right-wing political ideologies, split into two mirrored halves (blue for left, red for right). The map covers key aspects including government types, economic approaches, social values, family structures, and beliefs. The left side emphasizes progressivism, equality, and social support, while the right side focuses on traditionalism, individual freedom, and established order. The diagram uses icons, text, and connecting lines to illustrate the relationships between concepts.
December 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Uppers, downers, trips & tranqs 💊 All the world's major drugs, in one easy-to-swallow infographic
Venn diagram shows intersections between four types of drugs: Stimulants, anti-psychotics, depressants and hallucinogens. At the centre between all four is Cannabis.
December 8, 2025 at 11:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Guess what % of plastics have been #recycled? No prizes :(
A Sankey diagram shows how a total of the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic ever produced by humanity has ended up either being totally discarded, incinerated or still in use. 31% are still in use. The remainder have been dumped or burnt.
December 8, 2025 at 7:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Radium atom visualized by Niels Bohr 🌼
Beautiful flower-like geometric pattern visualizes the structure of a radium atom by Niels Bohr
December 8, 2025 at 3:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
You gotta build your data strategy!
Parody LEGO set box showing 'Build Your Own Data Strategy' themed datacenter with colorful server racks and minifigures working at computer stations. The set includes multiple LEGO server towers with multicolored details, various workstations, and miniature screens displaying data visualizations. The packaging shows ages 0-12 and includes character minifigure details at the bottom.
December 7, 2025 at 7:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
The amount of human made 'stuff' now exceeds natural 'stuff'

(by @VisualCap)
www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-...
A stacked bar chart showing the growth of anthropogenic mass (human-made objects) compared to natural biomass from 1900 to 2040 (projected). The chart shows anthropogenic mass, broken down into categories like Concrete, Aggregates, Bricks, Asphalt, Metals, and Plastics, steadily increasing over time. Natural biomass, divided into Trees and Shrubs, Crops, Livestock, and Humans, is shown with relatively stable or slightly decreasing totals. The year 2020 is marked as the point where anthropogenic mass is projected to exceed natural biomass, with a note stating "Total anthropogenic mass exceeds all global living biomass." The chart is titled "ACCUMULATION OF ANTHROPOGENIC MASS".
December 7, 2025 at 5:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Wait, who is my third cousin twice removed? Oh
The photo shows a drawing of a family tree on a napkin. Starting from a great great grandparent at the top and going down six levels, one can use it to explore the connections and relationship e.g. to aunts, cousins or even a third cousin twice removed
December 7, 2025 at 3:55 PM
infobeautiful.bsky.social
Africa's most dominant religions
Map showing dominant religions across African countries. Islam (green) dominates North Africa and parts of West Africa, Christianity (blue) prevails in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Traditional Religions (purple) are dominant in Madagascar, and Tanzania (yellow) has no dominant religion.
December 7, 2025 at 12:55 PM