Empowering people with data

Current-gen video game console unit sales worldwide 2017-2024

The Sony PlayStation 5 was the best-selling video game console worldwide in 2024, selling over 19.65 million units across the globe, having successfully overtaken the Nintendo Switch console in annual unit sales in 2023.

While the term “console wars” was originally coined to describe the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo in the video game market during the 1980s and 1990s, the modern usage refers to the battle for supremacy between the PlayStation and Xbox brands. The most recent battle between these console giants has been fought out between their eight-generation consoles, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. However, while PlayStation 4 sales in Europe reached more than 45 million units alone, Microsoft’s global Xbox One Sales are yet to reach 60 million units worldwide. This duel has also turned into a three-way battle thanks to the enormous success of Nintendo’s hybrid video game console, the Nintendo Switch. Despite being released over three years later than its rivals, Switch global sales have already reached over 130 million units worldwide, with over a third of the regional console sales occurring in North America.

This fight for supremacy shows no signs of slowing down with the next battle of the console wars upon the horizon. Following years of speculation, both Sony and Microsoft released their next-generation consoles in the lead up to the 2020 holiday season as PlayStation 5 and Xbox S respectively. Sony continues to have the upper hand, as sales of its PlayStation 5 hit over 38 million units as of 2022. In comparison, estimates have Microsoft’s Xbox X/S Series sales at around 21 million units as of April 2023.

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.

Leading commercial banks in the U.S. 2024, by revenue

In 2024, JPMorgan Chase was the commercial bank with the highest revenue in the United States, with a total revenue of over 177 billion U.S. dollars. Bank of America and Wells Fargo followed, with 101.9 and 82.3 billion U.S. dollars, respectively. These three banks were also the largest banks in terms of total assets in the United States that year.

A commercial bank is a bank that offers financial services to private customers and companies, such as accepting deposits, checking services or loans. Commercial banks earn money through interest rates on the loans that they offer. Such rates are significantly higher than the interest rates paid to the bank customers for depositing their assets in a bank. This difference in rates is called net interest income, which is one of the leading indicators of bank performance.

Some banks specialize only in commercial or investment banking, while some banks combine both divisions in their operations. Investment banks specialize in managing assets of their clients, underwriting securities or supervising merger and acquisition transactions.

Number of active Shopify stores in the U.S. 2025, by quarter

The e-commerce Shopify platform reached a number of 997,424 active stores in the second quarter of 2025, an increase from the previous quarter. The platform reached its peak of stores in the first quarter of 2024, with over one million stores.

Number of active WeChat messenger accounts Q1 2015 to Q1 2024

The number of Tencent's WeChat active accounts has been increasing steadily. As at the end of March 2025, the Chinese multi-functional social media platform had over 1.4 billion monthly active users.

First released in 2011, WeChat is a mobile messaging app developed by the Chinese company Tencent. In its home market of China, WeChat was marketed as Weixin and was rebranded as WeChat in 2012 for international audiences. In 2018, WeChat and Weixin surpassed one billion users, which was a significant increase from the previous year. Today, WeChat is one of the leading social networks worldwide, ranking sixth in terms of active user numbers. It has users from different age groups. 

WeChat has lots of popular messaging app features, including Moments. Most WeChat users access WeChat Moments every time they open the app. The app also provides a broad range of services, such as financial management and mobile shopping. Short videos, online payment, and gaming were the most popular activities among WeChat users. A survey found that half of users spent six to 30 minutes per visit on the short video function, WeChat Channels.

Production volume of vehicles India FY 2011-2025, by segment

India was one of the leading countries in the world in terms of vehicle production. In financial year 2025, the total production volume of vehicles in India was around 31 million units, which was an increase from the previous year. In 2020, the production value contracted for the first time during the presented period. This was partially due to the introduction of the new Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emissions standards from April 1, 2020, and overall scaled down production to lower stock of the old BS-IV vehicles. Further decline in production was contributed by the coronavirus pandemic in India. 

Two-wheelers have been the predominant vehicle type produced in India and also made up the majority of automobiles sold domestically. Two-wheelers in India are divided into three subcategories, namely, motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds. Hero MotoCorp had the highest market share in this segment, occupying almost one third of the market. The company was also the world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheel vehicles. The future growth point of this sector is expected to be electric scooters and motorcycles and many leading manufacturers have already started producing electric vehicles.

The new emission standards were first introduced in 2016 by the Indian government. India was the first country to skip BS-V altogether and start with a higher stage of standards. Within just four years, India turned the challenge into an opportunity and completed the transition of fuel and vehicles complying with the BS-VI standards. Combining with a scrappage program, BS-VI standards could significantly improve the air quality and public health in India.

Most streamed Eurovision songs on Spotify worldwide 2025

As every year, the Eurovision song contest gives stage to bands and artists selected by the European and Europe-adjacent nations (as well as Australia), to compete for the Eurovision trophy. In 2025, the contest is hosted by Switzerland in Basel, following Nemo's win in the competition the year before. The Swedish song "Bara Bada Bastu" by Finnish comedy group KAJ was streamed over 43 million times on Spotify until the day before the final, making it the most streamed song from Eurovision 2025 on the platform until that day.

Romanian presidential election second-round results 2025

George-Nicolae Simion, the founder of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), received the largest share of votes in the first round of the Romanian presidential election that took place on May 4, 2025, at nearly 41 percent. Nicușor-Daniel Dan, an independent candidate and the mayor of Bucharest, placed second. As none of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the votes, a second election round took place on May 18, 2025. However, the underdog candidate Nicușor-Daniel Dan managed to mark a historical victory in an election that had the largest voter turnout in the last 30 years - 64.72 percent or over 11.6 million Romanians. The pro-European candidate won with 53.6 percent of the votes, while the right-wing AUR candidate lost with a difference of 829 thousand votes.

The election took place half a year after the previous one, whose results were annulled over suspicions of foreign intervention.

Share of power generated from solar sources in Latin America 2024, by country

In 2022, Chile was the Latin American country that had the largest share of electricity produced from solar sources, at some 22.3 percent of its power mix. El Salvador ranked a close second, with solar accounting for roughly 17.3 percent of electricity generation that year. Nevertheless, solar power contributed to less than five percent of the electricity mix of many Latin American and Caribbean countries that year.

Quarterly rent price index Australia 2020-2025

The rent price index in Australia in the first quarter of 2025 was 122.1, marking an increase from the same quarter of the previous year. Rent prices had decreased in 2020; in Melbourne and Sydney, this was mainly attributed to the absence of international students during the coronavirus outbreak. 

The rental market in Australia has been marked by varying conditions across different regions. Among the capital cities, Sydney and Melbourne have long been recognized for having some of the highest average rents. As of September 2024, the average weekly rent for a house in Sydney was 775 Australian dollars, which was the highest average rent across all major cities in Australia that year. Furthermore, due to factors like population growth and housing demand, regional areas have also seen noticeable increases in rental prices. For instance, households in the non-metropolitan area of New South Wales’s expenditure on rent was around 30 percent of their household income in the year ending June 2024. 

Housing affordability remains a significant challenge in Australia, contributing to a trend where many individuals and families rent for prolonged periods. The underlying cause of this issue is the ongoing disparity between household wages and housing costs, especially in large cities. While renting offers several advantages, it is worth noting that the associated costs may not always align with the expectation of affordability. Approximately one-third of participants in a survey conducted in 2023 stated that they pay between 16 and 30 percent of their monthly income on rent. Recent government initiatives such as the 2024 Help to Buy scheme aim to make it easier for people across Australia to get onto the property ladder. Still, the multifaceted nature of Australia’s housing affordability problem requires continued efforts to strike a balance between market dynamics and the need for accessible housing options for Australians.