Empowering people with data

Leading tech companies worldwide 2025, by market cap

As of May 23, 2025, Microsoft was the leading tech company by market capitalization globally at 3.38 trillion U.S. dollars. Nvidia ranked second at 3.24 trillion U.S. dollars. Tech company stocks were impacted through 2025 as a result of various global tariff threats by the United States government.

Since its foundation in a Californian garage in 1976, Apple has expanded massively, becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world. The company started its origins in the PC industry with the Macintosh, but soon entered other segments of the consumer electronics market. Today, the iPhone is the most popular Apple product, although Mac, iPad, wearables, and services also contribute to its high revenues. Aiming at innovation, Apple invests every year in research and development, spanning a wide array of technologies from AI through to extended reality.

With a focus that began with origins in gaming, Nvidia's business strategy has been transformed by demand from data centers that sit at the heart of the AI boom. The company's chips have been favored to support in the training and running of a range of large language models, most notably in the development of OpenAI's ChatGPT.  

The 100 most traded cryptocurrencies in the last 24 hours on May 19, 2025

Based on 24 hour trading volume, stablecoin Bitcoin outpaced Ethereum and, more importantly, Tether in May 2025, accounting for most crypto trades. This is unusual as stablecoin Tether often tends to be most traded - due to its use in purchasing other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin's leading role is underlined in a market cap league table of more than 100 cryptocurrencies — including ones for DeFi, NFT and stablecoins. Bitcoin and Ethereum are typically the only ones to reach over 100 billion U.S. dollars, with Ethereum usually following by around one half this amount. Does this mean that Bitcoin gets traded more than Ethereum? Not necessarily, as the daily transactions of Ethereum tend to be significantly higher than that of Bitcoin.

Largest armies in the world by active military personnel 2025

As of May 2025, China had the largest armed forces in the world by active duty military personnel, with about two million active soldiers. India, the United States, North Korea, and Russia rounded out the top five largest armies.

Active personnel, also known as active duty in the United States and active service in the United Kingdom, are those individuals whose full-time occupation is being part of a military force. Active duty contrasts with a military’s reserve force, which are individuals who have both a military role and a civilian career. The number of active duty forces in the U.S. is much larger than its reserve membership.

The strength of a country’s armed forces is not only determined by how many personnel they maintain, but also the number and quality of their military equipment. For example, looking only at personnel does not factor in the overwhelmingly higher number of nuclear warheads owned by Russia and the United States compared to other countries. One way to answer this question is to look at the total amount of money each country spends on their military, as spending includes both personnel and technology. In terms of countries with the highest military spending, the United States leads the world with an annual budget almost three times larger than second-placed China.

U.S. total lobbying spending 1998-2025

In 2024, the total lobbying spending in the United States amounted to 4.44 billion U.S. dollars. In 2023, the total lobbying spending was around 4.27 billion U.S. dollars. 

Since the turn of the millennium, the amount spent on lobbying in the United States has more than doubled. The intention of firms employing lobbyists, who in turn lobby government officials, is to gain a degree of influence on the legislative process in the hope of legislation more favorable to their business or cause being passed. Lobbying occurs at all levels from local government to presidential elections. The industries utilizing lobbying as a means to gain influence come from a range of industries with the biggest spenders including pharmaceuticals, insurance, business associations as well as oil and gas.

Lobbying by the National Rifle Association has gained both domestic and global attention. Many observers have pointed to the lobby power of the National Rifle Association when attempting to explain the perceived lack of change in regard to gun control laws. Examples such as the National Rifle Association, alongside increasing lobbying spending, have lead to increased attention on the lobbying industry and the potential consequences of the industry’s increasing influence. Movements such as the Occupy Movement and protests against free-trade deals with other countries have called for restrictions on lobbying and the asymmetrical power it allows large corporations.

New cases of measles in the U.S. 1985-2025

There were 285 new cases of measles in the U.S. in 2024. Measles, also known as rubeola, is an infectious disease that is highly contagious and affects mostly children. Common symptoms of measles include fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough, and a rash. Although death rates from measles have decreased around the world, it is still responsible for around 81,000 deaths worldwide per year.

Measles vaccination

The main reason for the decrease in measles cases and deaths is due to high vaccination rates. The widely used MMR vaccine protects against measles, mumps, and rubella and is safe and effective. In 2023, around 91 percent of adolescents in the U.S. aged 13 to 17 years had received an MMR vaccination. However, in recent years there has been a rise in measles cases in many parts of the world due to vaccine hesitancy.

Vaccine hesitancy

Vaccine hesitancy refers to a refusal or reluctance to have children vaccinated, despite the overwhelming evidence that vaccines are safe and effective. This hesitancy comes from a misunderstanding of the ingredients in vaccines and how they work, a mistrust of doctors and pharmaceutical companies, and belief in the unfounded associations of vaccines with other diseases and disorders.

Retail sales of cosmetics in China by month 2024-2025

In April 2025, cosmetics retail sales in China amounted to around 30.87 billion yuan. The highest retail sales value of cosmetics in China was often recorded in January/February, June, and November, when the shopping festivals took place. 

In the last decade, the cosmetics market in China has been developing rapidly. In 2024, the retail sales value of cosmetic products reached 435.65 billion yuan. As the demand for cosmetic products expands further in second-and third-tier cities of China, cosmetics retail is expected to maintain its growth momentum in the near future. In addition, the changing attitude among men towards skin-care fosters the booming of the men's cosmetics market in China. Generation Z was the main consumption force of men's makeup products.

Foreign cosmetics brands play an important role in China’s cosmetics market, with 13 out of the 20 leading beauty and cosmetic product brands in China being foreign-funded. L’Oréal Paris, the world’s largest cosmetics brand, still holds the largest share in China’s overall cosmetics market as well as color cosmetic product market. However, with the popularity of China-chic, national cosmetic brands have gained traction recently. In 2023, domestic brands contributed over half of the retail sales of cosmetic products in China.

Among the main distribution channels for cosmetic retail in China, online retail has been expanding significantly over recent years, while traditional retail channels such as hypermarkets and department stores were losing ground.

Leading private sector banks in India 2025, by market cap

HDFC Bank was the leading Indian private bank based on market capitalization of over 14 trillion Indian rupees as of May 2025. ICICI and Kotak Mahindra followed, rounding the top three during the measured time period. HDFC Bank had remained the leader in this sector, in part, due to its significant ramp up in digital service offerings.

Increased smartphone and internet penetration, and a mass adoption of the mobile-based, real-time payment platforms have paved the way for India as one of the fastest growing digital payment economies in the world. In recent years, the country has been moving towards a cashless economy. The government's role in making online payments for tax returns, GST payouts and even relief packages during the pandemic also boosts the market.

The Reserve Bank of India and National Payments Corporation of India urged people to increase the use of digital payments after the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. E-commerce players, retailers, service providers encouraged contactless online payments and deliveries to minimize the risk contact while handling money. The pandemic boosted an already flourishing online payment market. This mode of paying, initially thought of as a convenience, has now become a necessity, thanks to keep physical contact to a minimum.

Share of people who think Brexit was the right or wrong decision 2020-2025

As of May 2025, 56 percent of people in Great Britain thought that it was wrong to leave the European Union, compared with 32 percent who thought it was the right decision. During this time period, the share of people who regret Brexit has been slightly higher than those who support it, except for some polls in Spring 2021, which showed higher levels of support for Brexit. 

Since late July 2022, the share of people who regret Brexit in these surveys has consistently been above 50 percent. Additionally, a survey from January 2025 highlighted that most people in the UK thought that Brexit had had a mainly negative impact, especially on the cost of living and the economy. Despite there being a clear majority of voters who now regret Brexit, there is as yet no particular future relationship with the EU that has overwhelming support. As of late 2023, 31 percent of Britons wanted to rejoin the EU, while 30 percent merely wanted to improve trade relations and not rejoin either the EU or the single market.

In the actual referendum, which took place on June 23, 2016, Leave won 51.9 percent of the votes and Remain 48.1 percent, after several polls in the run-up to the referendum put Remain slightly ahead. Remain were anticipated to win until early results from North East England suggested that Leave had performed far better than expected, with this pattern replicated throughout the country. This event was repeated somewhat in the U.S. election of that year, which saw Donald Trump win several key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, despite predictions that these states would vote for Hillary Clinton.

Most Serie A titles 1897-2025, by club

As of 2025, Juventus had won the most Serie A titles, with 36 in total. Meanwhile, SSC Napoli won the league for the fourth time in 2024/25, finishing one point ahead of Inter.

Highest grossing box office films in Australia in 2025

In 2023, the highest grossing film in Australia was Barbie, which generated 56.6 million U.S. dollars at the Australian box office. Comparatively, the next most successful films in the same year were The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Avatar: The Way of Water, which made 31.5 million and 28.8 million U.S. dollars respectively.

All time box office records

Avengers: Endgame has taken a total of 84.16 million Australian dollars at the box office since release, making it the third most successful film of all time in terms of box office revenue of all time in Australia. By comparison, the most successful film of all time in Australia was James Cameron’s Avatar, which has grossed a total of 115.77 in box office revenue as of January 2020. Sitting between Avatar and Avengers: Endgame is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which has grossed 94.03 million Australian dollars to date.

Attendance and ticket prices

Cinema attendance has remained stable at around 70 percent since 2013, with only small year on year fluctuations. In 2019, attendance was 70 percent. The average price of a cinema ticket in Australia in 2019 was 14.5 Australian dollars, a slight increase from the previous year and a continuation of the year on year growth in average prices. The maximum average cinema ticket price in the same year was 22 Australian dollars, a reduction from the preceding year.