The New Year is barely a few months old and there were so many things we covered in 2018. Data visualizations, in particular, were very popular. We looked at a lot of things to help us make sense of money and in this post, we are recapping some of the top ones.

  • The Number of Billionaires in the World
The US dominates this chart. Source: How Much

The US dominated this list with a total of 585 billionaires. It wasn’t a surprise seeing it’s by far the biggest economy in the world. It was followed by China that had 373 while India was third at 119. The Asia Pacific region had the highest number of billionaires in the world accounting for 37.7%. This was followed by North America with 29.2% with other regions sharing the remaining 37%.

  • Average Income Needed to Afford a Home in the US
The coastlines have higher numbers. Source: How Much

Owning a property in the US is not always that easy and we analyzed the amount of income someone needs in order to afford a 30-year mortgage. It emerged that this, in fact, depends on the state you live in. In states along the coastline, people would need to earn more probably because property prices in those areas are higher. But the income needed was relatively less in old industrial towns.

  • The Most Innovative Companies
Amazon takes the top. Source: How Much

There was also the list of some of the most innovative companies. The list identified companies that had managed to disrupt traditional industries with new technology and new innovations. It was no surprise therefore that Amazon ranked high in this list. Alphabet, the company that owns Google, was also a worthwhile mention while Samsung, Microsoft, and Apple also led the way. Volkswagen was the only non-tech company that made it into the top five.

  • World’s Most Valuable Brands
Technology dominates the area. Source: How Much

The visualization of the world’s most valuable companies wasn’t surprising either. The list was dominated by tech giants. Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon all made it to the list. Other notable mentions included AT&T, Verizon, IBM, Netflix, Oracle, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney Pictures.

  • Visualization of Where Tourists Spend the Most Money
The US led the list. Source: How Much

This one is quite interesting since not many analysts had done it before. The US led the list with $211 billion in total expenditure. The list was dominated by other European countries and China. Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain were all ranked high. Australia and Canada too were high performers.

  • Visualization of the Biggest Exports by State in the US
Texas led the export in oil. Source: How Much

The US has a massive export industry but different states have different goods that rank at the top. Texas was leading in oil and petroleum while California and Washington State were ranking high on airplanes. North Dakota was also doing well on crude oil.

  • Visualization of the Global Economy
The United States dominates this chart. Source: How Much

Although a lot of people are aware of what the big economies are in the world, not many know how these economies compare with each other. This visualization came in handy for this. The United States and China dominated the chart with both accounting for nearly 40% of the total global economy. Japan, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy completed the top list.