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Visualized: How Much Metal is Used in Clean Energy Technology?

​How Much Metal is Used in Clean Energy?
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In 2022, a record 12% of all global power was harnessed from solar and wind, up from 10% in 2021, underscoring the growth of clean energy sources.

Essential minerals that form the foundation of clean energy technologies are at the heart of this transition. But what makes these minerals so indispensable?

This infographic, sponsored by Teck, looks at how much, and what types of metals are used in clean energy.

Clean Energy Uses More Metal
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Clean energy systems, on average, require more minerals to build. Let’s take a look at the amount needed for wind and solar applications.

Offshore wind uses the largest amount of metals here, with its copper demand alone reaching around 8,000 kilograms per megawatt of energy.

### A Closer Look at Copper

Copper is the world’s third most used industrial metal and is essential for clean energy technologies due to its outstanding conductivity, versatility, and superior heat dissipation capabilities compared to other metals. 

Copper’s sustainability credentials are also firmly established. This is due to its recyclability rate of 100%, meaning it can be reused multiple times without any decline in performance. 

Growing clean energy infrastructure will place even more significant demands on copper. A wind farm can contain between 4 million and 15 million pounds of copper.

### A Closer Look at Zinc

Zinc is renowned as one of the most versatile and vital elements in human applications. It stands as the fourth most used metal worldwide, following iron, aluminum, and copper. 

Its primary application is in the galvanization process, where it acts as a protective layer for iron and steel against corrosion.

Zinc coatings play a crucial role in public transportation and infrastructure by extending the life of steel used in bridge rails, support structures, railway tracks, and more.

The construction of solar panels and wind turbines has resulted in additional demand for zinc because these assets are always exposed to the elements. 

A 100MWh solar panel park—capable of powering 110,000 homes—needs 240 tonnes of zinc.

Metals for the Future
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As the world moves towards renewable energy sources, copper, and zinc will remain in high demand.

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Visualizing the Number of Costco Stores, by Country

​Visualizing Costco’s Global Presence
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Costco is a membership-based retail chain founded in 1983 in Seattle, Washington. Best known for its unique warehouse stores and high-quality products, Costco offers everything from electronics to groceries.

Since its founding, Costco has become a major retailer in the U.S., while also greatly expanding its international presence. As of August 2023, the company has 859 locations globally, with a split of 69% domestic (591 stores) and 31% international (268 stores).

In this graphic, we’ve visualized Costco’s global presence with a treemap diagram.

Number of Costco Stores Worldwide
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The following table lists the number of Costco stores by country, as of Aug. 17, 2023.

From this data we can see that Costco’s biggest non-U.S. markets are Canada, Mexico, and Japan.

In fact, Costco’s first non-U.S. location was opened near Vancouver, British Columbia in 1985. The company expanded to Mexico several years later in 1992, and then Japan in 1999.

Costco has recently turned its attention to China, opening four stores in areas around Shanghai since 2019. Reception was overwhelmingly positive—as CNBC reported, massive crowds at the grand opening of Costco’s first store forced an early closure. The company is planning to grow its Chinese presence even further, with new locations planned for Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Nanjing.

For context, Costco is hardly the first U.S. retail chain to break into the Chinese market. Walmart first expanded to China in 1996 with a store in Shenzhen, and as of January 2023, operates 365 stores in the country.

The Sweden and New Zealand locations both opened in 2022, showing that Costco’s international expansion is still very much underway.

Number of Costco Stores by State
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Focusing on the U.S., here are the number of locations in each state.

America’s most populous state, California, leads the nation with 134 locations (23% of total). This is likely due to Costco’s business strategy, which relies more on membership fees and sales volume rather than high markups on products. According to analysis by Forbes, the average markup at Costco is estimated to be 11%, while at Walmart it stands at 24%.

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Ranked: Which Countries Drink the Most Beer?

​Visualizing Global Beer Consumption
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Global beer consumption exceeded 185 million kiloliters in 2021, enough to fill more than 74,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

So, which countries drink the most beer?

This graphic uses data from Kirin Holdings to compare global beer consumption by country. The Japanese company has been tracking beer consumption around the world since 1975.

Which Countries Drink the Most Beer?
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Every region in the world increased its overall beer consumption in 2021 compared to 2020, with global consumption rising by 4%.

Asia holds a 31% share of the global beer market, remaining the world’s largest beer-consuming region over the last 14 years.

China was the largest beer-consuming country for the 19th consecutive year.

The tradition of brewing and enjoying beer in China spans approximately nine millennia. Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed that as far back as 7000 BC, ancient Chinese communities were engaged in producing beer-like alcoholic beverages, primarily on a small and localized basis.

China was also the leading producer of beer in 2022, followed by the United States.

Beer Consumption Per Capita
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When examining per capita beer consumption, Asia falls behind Europe. In fact, nine of the top 10 consumers of beer per capita are European nations.

The Czech Republic remains the leader in per capita beer drinking for the 29th year. In 2021, the average Czech drank more than 184 liters of beer.

The Czech Republic is known for its affordable beer. In some parts of the country, beer can even cost less than bottled water.

Small Brewers and Technology
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Beer production is expected to rise over the next decade, boosted by new smaller brewers, particularly in Western countries.

Investments have also been made in new technology to expedite the brewing process, including the utilization of ‘BeerBots’ capable of accelerating the fermentation process.

According to Future Market Insights, the global beer market is projected to be valued at $690 billion in 2023, rising to $996 billion by 2033.

The post Ranked: Which Countries Drink the Most Beer? appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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Mapped: The Deadliest Earthquakes of the 21st Century

​Mapped: The Deadliest Earthquakes of the 21st Century
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On September 8, 2023, a powerful earthquake rocked Morocco. With its epicenter located in the Atlas Mountains and structural damage being done to the historical city center of Marrakesh, the 6.8-magnitude quake will likely have a death toll in the thousands.

With these recent events in mind, we use data from the National Centers for Environment Information (NCES) to map out the epicenters of the nine deadliest earthquakes in the 21st century so far, by their total death toll. This includes casualties from secondary events—like tsunamis—after each earthquake.

Earthquakes By Death Toll (2000–2023)
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We delve into some of the deadliest earthquakes in recent history.

### Haiti, 2010

On January 12th, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the capital Port-au-Prince. The earthquake’s shallow epicenter—only six miles beneath the surface—caused most of the force to be directed close to where people lived. By the end of the month, after 52 aftershocks rocked the island, the disaster had claimed more than 300,000 lives—the deadliest earthquake in the 21st century thus far.

The extensive destruction led to global support, but slow recovery sparked criticism of government inaction. In 2017, the UN reported 2.5 million Haitians still required aid.

### Indonesia, 2004

December 26th, 2004: A 9.1 earthquake occurred off the coast of Indonesia, deep under the ocean. It was the strongest earthquake in this century and the third-most powerful since 1900.

It triggered the worst tsunami recorded in history, causing 230,000 deaths mainly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and India.

Here’s a list of the deadliest earthquakes, by death toll, in the 21st century.

### Türkiye and Syria, 2023

February 6, 2023: Two earthquakes, also with shallow epicenters (5 miles deep), hit the border region between Türkiye and Syria, causing widespread damage in both countries and claiming more than 50,000 lives. Bad weather conditions—including snow, ice, and winter storms—inhibited search and rescue efforts.

In Syria, international sanctions prevented foreign charities and families from sending money to the country, which led to the U.S. suspending the sanctions for 180 days.

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Visualizing Mining’s Footprint in British Columbia

Visualizing Mining’s Footprint in British Columbia
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British Columbia is considered a global leader in the development of socially and environmentally responsible resources.

An estimated 54% of the province’s total land is protected, making it one of the world’s greenest mining hubs.

This graphic by the B.C. Regional Mining Alliance (BCRMA) details mining’s footprint in the province.

A Tier 1 Jurisdiction for Mining
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British Columbia covers almost 95 million hectares (234 million acres), more than any European country except Russia, and more than any U.S. state except Alaska.

As the largest mining province in Canada, BC registered $18 billion in revenue from the industry in 2022.

British Columbia stands as Canada’s sole producer of molybdenum, which finds applications in metallurgy and chemistry. Additionally, B.C. is the country’s leader producer of copper and steelmaking coal, besides gold and silver.

At the heart of British Columbia’s mining industry lies the Golden Triangle, one of the hottest mineral exploration districts in the world.

More than 150 mines have operated in the area since prospectors first arrived at the end of the 19th century. The region alone is endowed with minerals worth more than $800 billion.

How Green is B.C. Mining
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Mining represents 7% of the province’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), despite only accounting for 0.04% of the land use. In comparison, farmland demands 3% of the land, bringing $2.1 billion (0.8%) per year.

Mining operations are also supported by a stable, transparent, and effective policy environment. The province ranked as the world’s least risky for mining in 2017 and 2018.

In addition, mineral exploration has received ample support from local Indigenous communities. Today, mining accounts for over two-thirds of all indigenous people employed in the extractives sector.

According to the International Energy Agency, up to six times more minerals and metals will be needed by 2040 to accelerate the energy transition.

In this scenario, British Columbia is well positioned to support the transition to a low-carbon future and make a significant contribution to climate action.

The BCRMA is a strategic partnership between indigenous groups, industry, and government representatives that aims to promote B.C.’s mining opportunities internationally.

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The 25 Worst Stocks by Shareholder Wealth Losses (1926-2022)

​The 25 Worst Stocks by Shareholder Wealth Losses (1926-2022)
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Among publicly-listed U.S. companies, the 25 worst stocks have lost shareholders a collective $1.2 trillion since 1926. Put another way, just 0.1% of all stocks have led to 14% of all cumulative losses in shareholder wealth.

In this graphic, we use data from Henrik Bessembinder of Arizona State University to show the worst stocks of the last century.

How Are Shareholder Wealth Losses Calculated?
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Bessembinder took three steps to measure lifetime shareholder wealth losses:

Considered U.S. stocks in the Center for Research in Security Prices database from 1926 (or when the stock was first listed) until 2022 (or when the stock was delisted).Measured share price changes as well as cash flows to/from shareholders including dividends, spinoffs, share buybacks, and new share issuances.Calculated the excess wealth generated compared to investing in one-month Treasury bills over the same time period.If a company exited the database during the period, Bessembinder calculated its delisting return based on any proceeds from mergers or acquisitions as well as estimates of any remaining value after delistings for negative reasons.

The 25 Worst Stocks in Modern History
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With this context in mind, here are the worst stocks since 1926.

WorldCom, number one on the list, was a long-distance phone provider and handled internet data. In response to a surplus of telecommunications capacity that reduced pricing power, WorldCom began “cooking its books” to meet growth targets.

An SEC investigation of the accounting scandal found that executives improperly reduced costs by more than $7 billion and exaggerated revenue by at least $958 million. Once the fraud was discovered, WorldCom filed for the largest bankruptcy filing in American history as of July 2002.

Some of the worst stocks by lifetime wealth losses have gone public within the last few years. For instance, Doordash was one of the largest IPOs in 2020, with investor enthusiasm driving its share price 86% higher in the first day. The company has seen its revenue and U.S. market share increase, but it has yet to produce a 12-month profit.

Common Threads
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Among the worst-performing stocks, there are some patterns.

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What Electricity Sources Power the World?

​What Powered the World in 2022?
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This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on real assets and resource megatrends each week.

In 2022, 29,165.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity was generated around the world, an increase of 2.3% from the previous year.

In this visualization, we look at data from the latest Statistical Review of World Energy, and ask what powered the world in 2022.

Coal is Still King
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Coal still leads the charge when it comes to electricity, representing 35.4% of global power generation in 2022, followed by natural gas at 22.7%, and hydroelectric at 14.9%.

Source: Energy Institute

Over three-quarters of the world’s total coal-generated electricity is consumed in just three countries. China is the top user of coal, making up 53.3% of global coal demand, followed by India at 13.6%, and the U.S. at 8.9%.

Burning coal—for electricity, as well as metallurgy and cement production—is the world’s single largest source of CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, its use in electricity generation has actually grown 91.2% since 1997, the year when the first global climate agreement was signed in Kyoto, Japan.

Renewables on the Rise
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However, even as non-renewables enjoy their time in the sun, their days could be numbered.

In 2022, renewables, such as wind, solar, and geothermal, represented 14.4% of total electricity generation with an extraordinary annual growth rate of 14.7%, driven by big gains in solar and wind. Non-renewables, by contrast, only managed an anemic 0.4%.

The authors of the Statistical Review do not include hydroelectric in their renewable calculations, even though many others, including the International Energy Agency, consider it a “well-established renewable power technology.”

With hydroelectric moved into the renewable column, together they accounted for over 29.3% of all electricity generated in 2022, with an annual growth rate of 7.4%.

France’s Nuclear Horrible Year
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Another big mover in this year’s report was nuclear energy.

In addition to disruptions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, shutdowns in France’s nuclear fleet to address corrosion found in the safety injection systems of four reactors led to a 4% drop in global use, year-over-year.

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Visualizing Google’s Search Engine Market Share

​Visualizing Google’s Search Engine Dominance
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Google is ubiquitous in the daily lives of billions of people around the world, with leading positions in online search, maps, and other services.

In fact, Google’s dominance is so far-reaching, it has led the U.S. Justice Department to launch a civil antitrust lawsuit for what it believes are examples of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct.

This graphic, which uses data from Similarweb, shows the scale of Google’s lead over major search engine competitors like Bing and Yahoo.

Global Search Engine Market Share
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The data we used to create this graphic is provided in the table below. It is global search engine market share as of June 2023, across all platforms (desktop, mobile, and tablet).

Note that this analysis does not include China, where Google and other American tech firms are currently banned, or Russia, where Google has ceased operations. 


The largest player included in “Other” is South Korea’s Naver (0.48% global market share), which is similar to Google in that it offers a plethora of online services like search, video, and mobile payments.

Google Prepares for its U.S. Lawsuit
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In January 2023, the U.S. Justice Department announced a civil antitrust lawsuit against Google for monopolizing digital advertising technologies.

Today’s complaint alleges that Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful conduct to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies 
Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General

The Justice Department originally made several antitrust arguments. Potential actions that were deemed red flags include setting Google as a default mobile browser on Android phones, designing search results to disadvantage competitors, and the company’s ongoing partnership with Apple for its Safari browser. That said, some of the less substantial claims have since been dismissed by Judge Amit Mehta.

Google’s court case will begin in mid-September, marking the biggest tech monopoly trial since United States v. Microsoft Corp in 2001. Google is expected to argue that it simply offers a superior product.

Can Bing Challenge Google on Home Turf?
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To answer this question, let’s look at U.S.

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Which Climate Metrics Suit Your Investment Goals Best?

​Which Climate Metrics Suit Your Investment Goals Best?
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According to PwC, 44% of investors believe that companies should prioritize reducing greenhouse gas emissions across their own operations and supply chain.

In this graphic from our sponsor, MSCI, we break down climate metrics and provide valuable insights to help build sustainability-aligned portfolios without the fear of falling for greenwashing.

Essential Climate Metrics for Investors
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Here are some widely-used climate metrics, as categorized by MSCI:

Choosing the Right Metrics
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Climate investing requires selecting the right measurement tools. For that, it is important to consider your purpose, the applicability, and acceptability of the climate strategy, and the availability of historical data for analysis, among other factors. The infographic above contains a flowchart designed to guide you through several key questions.

For example, do you want to:

Measure your portfolio’s impact on the climate or the climate’s impact on your portfolio?Analyze present or forward-looking data?Assess direct impact or indirect impact via supply chains?Evaluate potential future emissions or projected temperature rise?Focus on climate risks or opportunities?MSCI’s climate metrics toolkit can help investors confidently measure, manage, and report their climate risks and opportunities.

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Ranked: Artificial Intelligence Startups, by Country

​Ranked: Artificial Intelligence Startups, by Country
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From DALL-E’s ability to help artists bring their vision to life, to automating the power requirements of a major metropolis, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to radically transform many aspects of the society we live in today.

But this potential would go unrealized without the driving force of AI startups all over the globe.

In this graphic, the first in the three-part Digital Evolution series sponsored by Global X ETFs, we delve into the dynamic landscape of AI investing and explore which countries are winning the race when it comes to number of startups with private investment of over $1.5 million.

The AI Race
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The United States and China remain at the forefront of AI investment, with the former leading overall since 2013 with nearly $250 billion invested in 4,643 companies cumulatively. 

But these investment trends continue to grow. In 2022 alone, 524 AI startups were founded in the U.S., attracting $47 billion in non-government funding. Meanwhile, China boasted the highest average corporate investment in 2022, with its 160 newly-founded AI startups receiving $71 million each on average. 
 
Here are the top 10 countries winning the AI investment race using data from the AI Index 2023 Annual Report:

Investment Across Industries
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Artificial intelligence investment was spread across a variety of global sectors in 2022:

### Healthcare

With its myriad of applications, the healthcare sector led the way in 2022’s AI investment journey, attracting $6.1 billion globally. 

### Data Management, Processing, and the Cloud

Data management, processing, and cloud services received $5.9 billion in investment. These AI-powered solutions optimize operations and can parse vast amounts of data.

### Fintech

AI’s potential to analyze extensive financial datasets, detect patterns, and automate processes has made it an attractive investment opportunity. Consequently, over $5.5 billion was invested in AI fintech in 2022. 

### Cybersecurity and Data Protection

The cybersecurity and data protection sector attracted $5.4 billion in investment, underscoring AI’s crucial role in enhancing security measures and mitigating risk.

### Retail

AI supporting the retail sector also had a massive $4.2 billion investment in 2022.

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A Visual Guide to AI Adoption, by Industry

​A Visual Guide to AI Adoption, by Industry
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As more and more businesses pour resources into artificial intelligence, its multitude of applications are beginning to be employed by the global workforce—and at a significant pace.

In this graphic, the second in the three-part Digital Evolution series sponsored by Global X ETFs, we’ll explore AI adoption statistics and discuss the impact of AI technology on today’s workforce.

Who Uses AI?
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According to a recent survey, an impressive 50% of organizations report using AI tools for at least one function within their operations. But as we look deeper, the power of AI as a customizable and multi-faceted tool becomes apparent:

Generative AI programs such as DALL-E, Bard, and ChatGPT have also been adopted by significant number of people. In particular, OpenAI’s ChatGPT boasts 100 million users and over a billion monthly hits.

Finance Leads the Way in AI Adoption
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The finance industry has become the frontrunner in AI adoption. Used to manage complex risk challenges, AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data in real time, enabling timely detection of fraud and market fluctuations.

Consequently, AI technology has proven to be a game-changer within the risk space. A survey conducted by McKinsey indicates that 48% of professionals in the risk space reported some form of revenue increase as a direct result of AI adoption. Additionally, 43% of respondents reported a decrease in costs, as AI streamlines processes, automates repetitive tasks, and reduces the margin for error.

The Job Market Responds
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The rise in AI adoption has created a demand for AI-skilled professionals in the U.S. In this table, we can see AI job postings as a percentage of overall job postings in the U.S. between 2021 and 2022:

Notably, the top three sectors with the highest demand for AI talent are IT (5.3% of all job postings), professional, scientific, and technical services (4.1%), and finance and insurance (3.3%). This trend suggests that these are the industries where AI can make the biggest difference.

The Transformative Power of AI
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AI adoption has reached a critical milestone, with half of the surveyed organizations leveraging AI tools to optimize their operations in some form. But this is a mere shadow of AI’s true potential.

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Visualized: What is the Artificial Intelligence of Things?

​What is the Artificial Intelligence of Things?
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The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), known as the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), is expected to accelerate digital transformation.

In this graphic, the third and final in the Digital Evolution series sponsored by Global X ETFs, we dive into the world of AIoT platforms and zero in on their impact on certain industries.

AIoT Platforms
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AIoT platforms integrate AI programming into IoT devices such as sensors, smart TVs, security cameras, or thermostats. When deployed at scale, AIoT can become capable of everything from managing city traffic flow to improving hospital remote patient monitoring.

AI algorithms enable devices to gather and analyze massive amounts of data, extract valuable insights, and make intelligent decisions. This enhances the functionality and efficiency of existing IoT devices.

Real World Applications
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Here are some examples of the numerous applications of AIoT in today’s world:

Smart Homes: AIoT brings intelligence to our living spaces by enabling seamless automation, enhanced energy efficiency, and improved security. This includes smart thermostats that automatically adjust to their environment, or security cameras that detect unwanted intruders instead of cars, animals, or planned guests. 

Edge Computing: AIoT can enable a computer to shunt a portion of its processing requirements to another computer on the same network. This reduces latency, enhances security, and enables quicker decision-making. 

Healthcare: By integrating AI with medical devices, wearables, and healthcare systems, practitioners can gain deeper insights into patient health, improve diagnosis accuracy, and deliver personalized treatments.

Smart Cities: The capstone of AIoT applications, smart city technology empowers municipalities to optimize resource utilization, streamline traffic management, and enhance public safety. An example would be in Zurich, where sensors automate street lights to complement traffic flow, resulting in a 70% reduction in energy consumption.

Embracing a Connected World
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AIoT platforms are projected to grow at a staggering compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.7% between 2022 and 2027.

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Video Game Engagement, by Generation

​Video Game Engagement, by Generation
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By 2025, the number of gamers is estimated to reach 3.6 billion and generate a whopping $211 billion in revenue.

The video game industry’s success is fueled by enthusiasts who engage with gaming by playing, viewing, creating, and making gaming a part of their social life. So who are these gaming enthusiasts? 
 
This infographic, sponsored by Roundhill Investments, illustrates how players from different generations around the world engage with video games. Let’s get into it.

The Methodology
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For transparency, the data we used in the graphic above pulls from a survey conducted by Newzoo between February and May 2023 with 74,295 respondents across 36 countries. Here are the age ranges for each demographic according to Newzoo for reference. 

Gen Alpha (born 2010 or later / 10-13 years old)Gen Z (born 1995-2009 / 14-28 years old)Millennials (born 1981-1994 / 29-42 years old)Gen X (born 1965-1980 / 43-58 years old)Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964 / 59-65 years old)Generational Insights
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Gaming is the most popular form of video game engagement across all generations surveyed. However, when you dive in to each cohort, some interesting insights emerge.

### Gen Alpha & Gen Z

Of the Gen Alphas surveyed, 93% are video game players. However, both Gen Alpha and Gen Z are also the most likely groups to engage in video gaming in other ways, such as following gaming channels, and participating in online communities. This isn’t surprising, as they have grown up with technology as an integral part of their lives. 

### Millennials, Gen X, & Baby Boomers

Interestingly, the percentage of people engaging with these other forms seems to drop with age. So even though just under half of  baby boomers with access to the internet consider themselves to be gaming enthusiasts, that refers mostly to playing games, with just 5% of them engaging in other ways.

The Future of Gamingis Diverse
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With younger generations driving the future of gaming, new business models and technologies will continue to emerge to appease these audiences across a multitude of touchpoints and of course, continue to attract attention from brands outside of the industry.

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Visualized: How Long Does it Take to Double Your Money?

​Visualized: How Long Does it Take to Double Your Money?
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This was originally posted on Advisor Channel. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on financial markets that help advisors and their clients.

At first glance, a 7% return on your investment may not seem that impressive. Yet what if you heard that your money could double in roughly 10 years?

The above graphic takes the rule of 72 shortcut and uses the more precise logarithmic formula to show how long it takes to grow your money at different annualized returns.

Why it Pays to Know the Math
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Using the classic rule of 72, an investor can estimate how long it takes to double their money. At 7% annual returns, an investor would see $10,000 grow to $20,000 in about a decade by taking 72 and dividing it by 7%, the rate of return.

While the rule of 72 serves as a guide to estimating when your money will double, the more accurate way to arrive at this number is through a logarithmic equation.

In short, it divides the natural log of 2 by the natural log of 1 and adds this to the rate of return. We can see in the table below how leads to different results from the rule of 72:

Consider if an investor put their money in the S&P 500. Historically, it has averaged 11.5% returns between 1928 and 2022. In 6.4 years, their money would double, assuming these average returns.

If they were to put this money in a savings account, where the average savings rate is 0.6%, it would take 120 more years for their money to reach this potential.

In real terms, which takes inflation into account, an investor would see their money lose value if they parked it in a savings account. Historically, inflation has averaged 3.3% over the last century.

Historical Asset Returns
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Here’s how often different assets double, based on historical returns between 1928 and 2022:

Source: NYU Stern. *Represents Baa corporate bonds, which are considered investment grade. **Includes reinvested dividends.

We can see that 3-month T-Bills, often considered among the safest assets, doubled about every 21 years. Often, investors consider this a place to put cash that is low-risk and highly liquid.

Interestingly, real estate assets had returns of 4.4%, doubling roughly every 16 years.

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Charted: How Long Does it Take Unicorns to Exit?

​How Long Does it Take For Unicorns to Exit?
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For most unicorns—startups with a $1 billion valuation or more—it can take years to see a liquidity event.

Take Twitter, which went public seven years after its 2006 founding. Or Uber, which had an IPO after a decade of operation in 2019. After all, companies first have to succeed and build up their valuation in order to not go bankrupt or dissolve. Few are able to succeed and capitalize in a quick and tidy manner.

So when do unicorns exit, either successfully through an IPO or acquisition, or unsuccessfully through bankruptcy or liquidation? The above visualization from Ilya Strebulaev breaks down the time it took for 595 unicorns to exit from 1997 to 2022.

Unicorns: From Founding to Exit
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Here’s how unicorn exits broke down over the last 25 years. Data was collected by Strebulaev at the Venture Capital Initiative in Stanford and covers exits up to October 2022:

Overall, unicorns exited after a median of eight years in business.

Companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Indeed are among the unicorns that exited in exactly eight years, which in total made up 10% of tracked exits. Another major example is Zoom, which launched in 2011 and went public in 2019 at a $9.2 billion valuation.

There were also many earlier exits, such as YouTube’s one-year turnaround from 2005 founding to 2006 acquisition by Google. Groupon also had an early exit just three years after its founding in 2008, after turning down an even earlier acquisition exit (also through Google).

In total, unicorn exits within 11 years or less accounted for just over three-quarters of tracked exits from 1997 to 2022. Many of the companies that took longer to exit also took longer to reach unicorn status, including website company Squarespace, which was founded in 2003 but didn’t reach a billion-dollar valuation until 2017 (and listed on the NYSE in 2021).

Unicorns, by Exit Strategy
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Broadly speaking, there are three main types of exits: going public through an IPO, SPAC, or direct listing, being acquired, or liquidation/bankruptcy.

The most well-known are IPOs, or initial public offerings. These are the most common types of unicorn exits in strong market conditions, with 2021 seeing 79 unicorn IPOs globally, with $83 billion in proceeds.

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World Risk Poll: How Long Can People Survive Without Income?

How Long Can People Survive Without Income?
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In the wake of natural disasters or economic shocks, a person could quickly be left without income, which is why financial security is such an important aspect of resilience. 

In this graphic, sponsored by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, we explore their latest survey, World Risk Poll 2021: A Resilient World? to see how financially secure people from country to country really are. 

Assessing Financial Security
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In 2021, Lloyd’s Register Foundation partnered with Gallup and polled 125,000 people from 121 countries, asking how long people could cover their basic needs without income. Responses were classified by those who could survive for more than a month, a month or less, less than a week, and those who didn’t know or refused to say. 

Here is a ranking of those who could cover their needs for the longest length of time without income: 

And the shortest length of time:

A Cause for Alarm
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The study found that generally, those who could cover their needs the longest came from developed economies, and those who could cover their needs for the shortest length of time came from developing economies where financial security is more tenuous. 

With all that said, the volume of people around the globe who struggle financially is the true cause for alarm. The study found that a staggering 2.7 billion people could only cover their basic needs for a month or less without income, and of that number, 946 million could survive for a week at most.

Tackling Financial Insecurity
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Urgent action is needed to tackle this disparity in income and lack of financial security, especially in developing economies. If left unchecked, this undermines global resilience in the face of climate change, natural disasters, and any number of other shocks. 

In the fourth and final part of this series, we’ll explore the World Risk Poll 2021: A Changed World? Perceptions and Experiences of Risk in the COVID Age and learn how the world views climate change.

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The Incredible Historical Map That Changed Cartography

​The Incredible Historical Map That Changed Cartography
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This map is the latest in our Vintage Viz series, which presents historical visualizations along with the context needed to understand them.

In a one-paragraph story called On Exactitude in Science (Del Rigor en la Ciencia), Jorge Luis Borges imagined an empire where cartography had reached such an exact science that only a map on the same scale of the empire would suffice.

The Fra Mauro Mappa Mundi (c. 1450s), named for the lay Camaldolite monk and cartographer whose Venetian workshop created it, is not nearly as large, at a paltry 77 inches in diameter (196 cm). But its impact and significance as a bridge between Middle Age and Renaissance thought certainly rivaled Borges’ imagined map.

One of ‘the Wonders of Venice’
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Venice was the undisputed commercial power in the Mediterranean, whose trade routes connected east and west, stretching to Flanders, London, Algeria, and beyond.

This network was protected by fleets of warships built at the famous Arsenale di Venezia, the largest production facility in the West, whose workforce of thousands of arsenalotti built ships on an assembly line, centuries before Henry Ford.

The lion of St Mark guards the land gate to the Arsenale di Venezia, except instead of the usual open bible in its hands offering peace, this book is closed, reflecting its martial purpose. Source: Wikipedia

The Mappa Mundi (literally “map of the world”) was considered one of the wonders of Venice with a reputation that reached the Holy Land. It is a circular planisphere drawn on four sheets of parchment, mounted onto three poplar panels and reinforced by vertical battens.

The map is painted in rich reds, golds, and blues; this last pigment was obtained from rare lapis lazuli, imported from mines in Afghanistan. At its corners are four spheres showing the celestial and sublunar worlds, the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water), and an illumination of the Garden of Eden by Leonardo Bellini (active 1443-1490).

Japan (on the left edge, called the Isola de Cimpagu) appears here for the first time in a Western map. And contradicting Ptolemaic tradition, it also shows that it was possible to circumnavigate Africa, presaging the first European journey around the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488.

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What’s New on VC+ in September

If you’re a regular visitor to Visual Capitalist, you know that we’re your home base for data-driven, visual storytelling that helps explain a complex world.

But did you know there’s a way to get even more out of Visual Capitalist, all while helping support the work we do?

VC+ is our members program that gives you exclusive access to the weekly visual insights that leaders at Fortune 500 companies use to stay ahead.

Along with The Trendline newsletter twice a week and our monthly special dispatches, you’ll also get access to our VC+ Archive—unlocking hundreds of our in-depth briefings and insights in one place.

Sign Up Now Here’s what VC+ members can look forward to for the rest of this month:

New to VC+ in September 2023
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### “Markets This Month: September Edition”

SPECIAL DISPATCH: Everything You Need to Know for This Month in the Markets

This Special Dispatch exclusive to VC+ subscribers provides a high-level summary of the month’s key events and most important market trends. It’s our way of cutting through the noise and sending you the data that matters most for the markets this month.

September’s edition will include:

An economic calendar of the biggest data and earnings releases to be aware ofA handful of essential charts diving into the state of the marketsAnd a collection of insightful links worth reading, watching, and listening toComing Tuesday, September 19th, 2023 (Get VC+ to access)

### “Breaking Down BRICS”

SPECIAL DISPATCH: A Deep Dive Into BRICS’ History and Its Growing Future

With the BRICS group announcing its addition of six new member nations, this special dispatch dives into the origins of the group and breaks down the implications of the expanded membership.

From the group’s dominance in natural resources to how it seeks to reshape international trade, the visuals in this dispatch explore BRICS’ future impact on the world’s economic and political landscapes.

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Charted: The Exponential Growth in AI Computation

​Charted: The Exponential Growth in AI Computation
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Electronic computers had barely been around for a decade in the 1940s, before experiments with AI began. Now we have AI models that can write poetry and generate images from textual prompts. But what’s led to such exponential growth in such a short time?

This chart from Our World in Data tracks the history of AI through the amount of computation power used to train an AI model, using data from Epoch AI.

The Three Eras of AI Computation
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In the 1950s, American mathematician Claude Shannon trained a robotic mouse called Theseus to navigate a maze and remember its course—the first apparent artificial learning of any kind.

Theseus was built on 40 floating point operations (FLOPs), a unit of measurement used to count the number of basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division) that a computer or processor can perform in one second.

FLOPs are often used as a metric to measure the computational performance of computer hardware. The higher the FLOP count, the higher computation, the more powerful the system.Computation power, availability of training data, and algorithms are the three main ingredients to AI progress. And for the first few decades of AI advances, compute, which is the computational power needed to train an AI model, grew according to Moore’s Law.

Source: “Compute Trends Across Three Eras of Machine Learning” by Sevilla et. al, 2022.

However, at the start of the Deep Learning Era, heralded by AlexNet (an image recognition AI) in 2012, that doubling timeframe shortened considerably to six months, as researchers invested more in computation and processors.

With the emergence of AlphaGo in 2015—a computer program that beat a human professional Go player—researchers have identified a third era: that of the large-scale AI models whose computation needs dwarf all previous AI systems.

Predicting AI Computation Progress
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Looking back at the only the last decade itself, compute has grown so tremendously it’s difficult to comprehend.

For example, the compute used to train Minerva, an AI which can solve complex math problems, is nearly 6 million times that which was used to train AlexNet 10 years ago.

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Ranked: The 20 Best Franchises to Open in the U.S.

​Ranked: The 20 Best Franchises in the U.S.
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The U.S. is famous for chain restaurants, franchised shops, and brand name hotels. One thing these franchises aim for is consistency in store feel, customer service, product offerings, and prices, no matter which state you’re in.

This visualization uses Entrepreneur’s annual Franchise 500 Ranking to showcase the best franchises in the U.S. worth owning, from Dunkin’ Donuts  to Snap-on Tools.

The Best and How They Were Selected
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The report assessed five broad categories to score the country’s famous chains:

Costs & fees: including franchise fee, total investment needed to open one store, and royalty feesSupport: including training times, marketing support, operational support, franchisor infrastructure, financing infrastructure, and litigationSize & growth: including open & operating units, growth rate, and closuresBrand strength: including social media, system size, years in business, years franchisingFinancial strength & stability: including franchisor’s audited financial statementsA franchise was only considered if it was actively seeking new franchisees and must have already had at least 10 units operating.

Here’s a closer look at the top 20:

The number one franchise, Taco Bell, has been in business since 1964 and has 7,900 locations as of 2022, spanning beyond the U.S. to Canada, Australia, Europe, and other regions of the world. The average cost of investment to be a franchisee is between $576,000 to $3.4 million.

While most of the top 20 are in the food service industry, there is also one hotel, one shipping company, and a few hardware and home goods stores that make the list.

Ace Hardware (#7), for example, which specializes in home improvement goods, is actually an international franchise with close to 6,000 units. Kumon (#6) is an education center and is the only non-U.S. franchise on the list.

The Feasibility of Being a Franchisee
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To get a better sense of the costs needed to start a franchise, let’s take a look at one of the most famous convenience stores in the world.

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Ranked: The Highest Paid CEOs in the S&P 500

​Ranked: The Highest Paid CEOs in the S&P 500
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Many of the world’s most valuable companies are listed on the S&P 500, the benchmark index for the U.S. stock market.

For this reason, it is no surprise to see that CEOs of these key companies have multi-million dollar compensation packages. But what do these pay packages comprise? And do these CEOs always receive the compensation they are awarded? Or does it increase and decrease with stock market fluctuations?

In today’s infographic, we use data published by The Wall Street Journal to show the highest paid CEOs of S&P 500 companies in 2022, and delve into what their compensation includes.

The 20 Highest Paid CEOs
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The compensation packages of CEOs of S&P 500 companies comprise not just salaries, but bonuses, stock awards, and other incentives.

Here are the CEOs of S&P 500 companies that were awarded the highest pay packages last year, and the sectors they belong to.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, topped the list with an awarded pay package valued at around $226 million, which was over 800 times Google’s median employee compensation. His pay package included his annual salary of $2 million, a sum of $6 million for his personal security and stock awards valued at $218 million.

Meanwhile, Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino’s awarded pay package shot up to $139 million in 2022 from almost $14 million the previous year. This included stock awards initially valued at $116 million. Tech companies Apple and Broadcom were not far behind. While Apple CEO Tim Cook’s compensation package was valued at $99 million in 2022, Broadcom’s president and CEO Hock Tan was awarded $61 million.

Other CEOs that made it to the list include global insurance giant AIG’s CEO, Peter Zaffino, and Netflix’s co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings. While Hastings received a $10 million hike last year, he stepped down from this role in January 2023.

Rising Median CEO Income Hits a Wall
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Over the last decade, the median pay awarded to CEOs across S&P 500 companies has doubled.

In 2021, this number hit a high of $14.7 million.

However, in 2022, the median CEO compensation package hit a wall for the first time in a decade as it slightly fell to $14.5 million.

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