Remittances from abroad are major economic assets for some developing countries
For five countries – Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Haiti, Tajikistan and Liberia – remittances from citizens abroad are equivalent to at least a quarter of GDP.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Drew DeSilver
Senior Writer/Editor
Drew DeSilver is a senior writer at Pew Research Center.
Publications
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5 facts about Iran
The public unrest that swept across Iran starting in late December began as a protest against poor economic conditions, but it quickly turned into a call for an end to the country’s theocratic regime.
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Split U.S. Senate delegations have become less common in recent years
Doug Jones’ victory in Alabama gives that state its first split Senate delegation in more than two decades. But delegations with two senators of different parties still are much less common than they used to be: With 14 split delegations, the current Senate is tied for the second-fewest in the past 50 years.
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U.S. Senate seats rarely have flipped to other party in recent special elections
Senate seats have rarely flipped to the other party in recent special elections, and turnout usually lags compared with regular elections for the same seat.
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5 ways the U.S. workforce has changed, a decade since the Great Recession began
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the start of the Great Recession, five ways in which the U.S. workforce has changed over the past decade.
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Despite apparent coup in Zimbabwe, armed takeovers have become less common worldwide
Since the end of World War II, there have been 225 successful coups (counting the events in Zimbabwe) in countries with populations greater than 500,000, according to the Center for Systemic Peace, which maintains extensive datasets on various forms of armed conflict and political violence. Most coups occurred during the height of the Cold War, from the 1960s through the 1980s.
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Among developed nations, Americans’ tax bills are below average
Tax burdens in the U.S. are lower than most of its developed-nation peers – in some cases, well below.
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A closer look at who did (and didn’t) pay U.S. income tax in 2015
Taxpayers with incomes of $200,000 or more paid well over half (58.8%) of federal income taxes, though they accounted for only 4.5% of all returns filed (6.8% of all taxable returns). By contrast, taxpayers with incomes below $30,000 filed nearly 44% of all returns but paid just 1.4% of all federal income tax.
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5 facts about government debt around the world
Public debt has increased sharply in many countries in recent years, particularly during and after the Great Recession.
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Congressional productivity is up – but many new laws overturn Obama-era rules
This Congress has passed more substantive bills so far in its session than any since 2007 – though nearly a third of them were to undo Obama-era rules.
