Global living conditions are getting better
It&#x27;s sad how many comments dismiss the remarkable data, e.g. by commenting that the article &quot;only&quot; shows that average living conditions have improved, as if that is an argument against the conclusion that global living conditions have been continuously improving (and likely to continue if the trend continues).<p>The data shows that for all the selected metrics global living standards have improved, regardless of wealth distribution etc. For example, fewer children are dying today than in 1800 or 1960:<p>- a child born in 1800 had a 43.3% probability of dying before their fifth birthday<p>- in 1960 the probability was 18.5%<p>- in 2015 the probability was 4.25%<p>The 1800 estimate is astonishing. Almost half the children born in 1800 would probably have died by 1805. To me even the 1960 mortality rate is astonishing. Almost a fifth of all children born in 1960 would probably have died by 1965.<p>An even bigger improvement can be seen in extreme poverty (defined as living on $1.9 a day adjusted for inflation and price differences between countries):<p>- in 1820 94% of the global population lived in extreme poverty<p>- in 1960 64% lived in extreme poverty<p>- in 2015 only 9.6% lived in extreme poverty<p>I cannot see how such statistics can be interpreted as anything other than extraordinarily positive, and I just hope the trend continues.