Statista’s Post

Self-driving cars - in real-world applications as of now limited to robotaxis - are simultaneously existing and scary as technological and ethnical implications around the subject are plentiful and recent accidents - for example of a Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco - have caused some hesitation among lawmakers and the public. While aformentioned Cruise by GM has suspended operations in six U.S. cities after the October incident, competitor Waymo by Alphabet is still operating limited public operations of driverless taxis in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and new-addition Austin, Texas. A Las Vegas service by Motional was suspended in May. In Chinese cities, it is already somewhat more normal to be able to board a robotaxi (or robobus) as several operators are vying for dominance and have expanded fleets. Apollo Go by Chinese tech company Baidu, one of the larger operators, currently has as many as 400 robotaxis on the road in the city of Wuhan. Several companies are operating public trials and services in the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. Smaller cities are also being included by some companies and they are also often where companies launched their first trial services. While initial trials were often free and even on an application basis, new low fare structures for robotaxis in China have already ruffled feathers with taxi drivers. While reassessing Cruise was supposed to service Dubai, Chinese provider WeRide has run a public trial in Abu Dhabi. Singapore has a robobus service by the same company. Many current robotaxis are limited to specific areas, times of day or distances and might have a remote safety operator, who under Chinese law can look after as many as three taxis. Some operations in China also include on-board safety drivers, which are present but are not needed for any specific maneuvers of the vehicle.

In case you missed it 💡 #ICYMI 💪 Most Americans Prefer Exercise Over Weight Loss Drugs   🚗 As Self-Driving Cars Near, Fear Heightens   🍺 Who’s Drinking (Non-Alcoholic) Beer?   🔴 U.S. Gun Homicides Down From Pandemic Peak, But Stay Elevated   🌀 Tropical Cyclones Intensify Faster

Rare Beauty is a cosmetics brand founded by Selena Gomez in 2020. It focuses on creating high-quality, accessible products for all skin types and tones. The brand promotes individuality and self-expression, challenging traditional beauty standards. Rare Beauty also supports mental health awareness, aligning with its mission of self-acceptance and inner beauty. let's have a look at the brand performance.   The data is provided by Statista Consumer Insights and a different brand is selected and highlighted each time.   For more consumer insights click here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dT3ykHp2

The choice, some would say statement of tribal allegiance, for cellphone users between Android or iOS has become so ingrained in recent years that it’s perhaps hard to remember a time when there were multiple mobile operating systems battling it out for precious market share.    Before Android almost completely took over the non-iPhone market, there were many systems vying for market share, with manufacturers often developing their own OS specifically for their handsets.  As our animation illustrates, as recently as 2009, SymbianOS – used predominantly by Nokia – enjoyed a market share of up to 40 percent. The rise and fall of the gone-but-not-forgotten Blackberry brand can also be tracked. The introduction of the Android OS at the beginning of the smartphone era though, with its free and open-source model, quickly changed the once diverse landscape and gave us the duopoly which we know today. 

Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama are the states with the highest level of vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. This is according to the U.S. Climate Vulnerability Index, an analysis and ranking by the Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University. As the following chart shows, the states to the south are at greatest overall risk from climate change, while those further north are in a comparatively better position, with Alaska, New Hampshire and Vermont among those with lowest vulnerability. Mississippi has the worst ranking nationwide on a number of metrics, including child and maternal health, transportation sources and food insecurity. Meanwhile, Florida, currently under evacuation as Hurricane Milton nears, falls under the penultimate ‘higher vulnerability’ category. Among its top drivers of overall climate vulnerability are temperature-related deaths, how climate change could increase the costs of disaster preparation and recovery, as well as infectious diseases, particularly in regard to HIV, Hepatitis A and B. Other states in the “highest vulnerability” category include Kentucky, notable for its poor score on air pollution-related deaths, Georgia, with its high share of adults without health insurance, and Louisiana, where self-reported mental health is among the worst in the country. California, which is considered to have “average vulnerability”, stands out for its high number of annual droughts. These examples serve to show the breadth of factors that can make a population vulnerable. The CVI index is based on 184 indicators across environmental, social, economic and infrastructure metrics, looking at both pre-existing vulnerabilities and future risks from climate change. It reveals how levels of preparedness vary at a neighborhood level and are a result of many interwoven factors, with some communities far more disadvantaged than others.

The Renewable Energy market is expected to continue growing, with increasing demand for energy worldwide as populations grow and economies develop. The mix of energy sources is expected to shift towards cleaner and more sustainable options, with renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower expanding. For more market insights click here 👉 https://lnkd.in/es8AP-wv

According to a survey of industrialized nations by the OECD - OCDE, low-income people in the U.S. are among those struggling the most with housing costs. Almost half of all low-income U.S. residents spend more than 40 percent of their income on housing. This puts the country towards the top of the list of the least affordable housing markets in the OECD, only topped by Latin American countries Chile and Colombia. 30 percent or one third of income after tax spent on housing is generally considered the maximum amount any person should pay. The data refers to private renters (and mortgage holders) as those on the subsidized market are expected not to have their resources overstretched by rent. While the OECD has no comparable figure of how many U.S. residents pay subsidized rent, Department of Housing and Urban Development data suggests that close to 3 percent of Americans benefit from the department’s housing assistance. The data also shows the inability of low-income Americans to buy their own home instead of paying high rents. While this seems counter-intuitive, buying instead of renting is, or at least was, a way out from under the rent burden for low-income people in several OECD countries. In many places with high housing costs, burdensome mortgages are actually less common than burdensome rents – but this could also be due to the fact that fixed mortgage payments keep running for years at the same rates, while rent increases would display in the data more immediately. In the U.S., low-income mortgage holders were still overburdened by their payments in 43 percent of cases, only topped by Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica (44-58 percent) as well as pricey Luxembourg (52 percent). The U.S. number was matched by New Zealand's (43 percent).

The popularity of online travel platforms is easily explained by a simple fact: platforms make European hotels more successful. Europe is the number one travel destination for international tourists. With a large part of demand coming from abroad, European hoteliers need to be visible to travelers around the globe. Online travel platforms offer a risk-free and cost-effective way for hotels to market themselves to international travelers. Platforms invest in technology, multi-language customer service, and global marketing. Hotels are free to use this service as much or as little as they wish. In general, only when a successful booking takes place via an online travel platform do hotels pay a fee. In economic terms, platforms create scale efficiencies, which to a significant extent are passed on to hotel partners. As a result, hotels experience higher occupancy levels and benefit from reduced customer acquisition costs. In fact, for every hotelier who believes platforms have a negative impact, four others agree that partnering with digital platforms leads to lower customer acquisition costs. Three-quarters of European accommodations agree that online travel platforms make their businesses more profitable, contributing significantly to the success of Europe’s entire travel sector.

In this edition of Month in Data we look at the numbers behind five trending stories, including; Volkswagen's major announcement, Google and Apple's major court verdicts, the documented discovery of microplastics in brain tissue, Starliner's return to earth, and Nike's new CEO.

Out of the world’s top 15 growth hubs, 14 are forecast to be located in Asia, according to the Growth Hub Index 2024 by British real estate service Savills. These cities have been identified as set to develop particularly quickly by 2033, based on indicators measuring rising wealth, expanding economies and the potential for new development and business expansion. As the following chart shows, four Indian cities feature in the top 10, with Bengaluru in the top position. It is followed by Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and India’s Delhi. The report highlights how there is an intra-regional manufacturing shift unfolding from China to Southeast Asia. At the same time, North Asia is aging, as seen with countries such as Japan and South Korea, while Southeast Asia and India are still young and urbanizing. Several reasons cited for the anticipated rise in Asia include how many parts of the region have embraced tech-driven growth, while at the same time continuing to benefit from a strong traditional manufacturing sector. Many Asian cities are also forecast to see a growing middle class as personal wealth rises across the region, while investment in infrastructure as well as strategies to improve connectivity are also among the reasons helping these cities rank well. The authors note that if rapid urbanization is managed well, then it can lead to better health outcomes of populations and improved employment prospects and education, while if poorly managed, it can exacerbate poverty, crime and health issues. Savills analysts looked at several indicators on economies, populations and wealth across 230 cities with a GDP of $50 billion and up in 2023 to identify the fastest-growing cities. The economic indicators included the city GDP in 2033 and future credit rating as well as the percentage increase in city GDP growth between 2023–2033. The personal wealth indicators measured the percentage increase in city GDP per capita and the percentage increase in the number of households earning more than $70,000 over the 10 years analyzed. Meanwhile, the population indicators focused on the percentage increase in city population and migration between 2023–2033 and the future ratio of dependents to the working-age population in 2033. Only cities with a GDP of $50 billion and up in 2023 were included in the index.