Throwback 2021
The world was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when 2021 started. Having to adjust to the ‘new normal,’ or sort of starting accepting it, many people might have faced difficulties in their lives at different levels. However, the positive news was that COVID-19 vaccines became available to a larger part of the world’s population. As a proverb says, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”
Optimistically wishing 2022 brings all of us much health, peace, and happiness, we would like to take a look back at 2021 for the best infographics of the year. The following are the six infographics on InsightsArtist hand-picked by our team for each topic: Business, Environment, Finance & Economics, Insurance, Miscellaneous, and Rankings. To view the full infographics, please click the teasers shown.
Business | 2021 Female CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies
This infographic visualized the demography of the Fortune 500 2021, spotlighting the female leadership. At a glance, viewers would find out that the top 500 US companies were disproportionately male-led. Disproportionately—indeed, only 41 out of the 500 companies had women at the top. However, there were some record-breaking achievements; 41 was the largest ever number for female leaders in Fortune 500. Additionally, two African-American women made the list, and Karen Lynch’s CVS Health at the 4th was the highest-ranking business ever ran by a woman.
Yet, there are a lot of issues to solve, such as gender pay gap and workplace gender discrimination. Hopefully, as the gender equality becomes more crucial for economy, there will be a turnaround in women’s leadership roles.
Environment | Mind the Gap: Japan’s Energy Dilemma
The global renewable energy transition is urgent to diminish climate change. Each country faces its own challenges, and Japan is no exception. Particularly, its vulnerability to natural catastrophes poses unique challenges to the country.
Japan had one of the most severe nuclear disasters in 2011: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster. Although more than 10 years have passed since the accident, the country is still in the process of cleaning up nuclear debris. The infographic rightly pointed out societal attitudes towards nuclear—”NIMBY,” or Not in My Backyard.
Finance & Economics | Singapore’s Zero-Tolerance on Corruption: Lee Kuan Yew Speeches
Combating corruption has been global agenda for sustainable development. Especially, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how corruption erodes fairness and hinders development. It may sound unbelievable for some, but in some parts of the world, patients pay bribes to access healthcare. Thousands of people were injected with fake COVID-19 vaccines. These are just the tip of the iceberg.
Under such a climate, we could look back in time to find a clue to a better future from powerful quotes. The infographic showcased Singapore and its founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. His speeches are insightful and inspiring even for today’s audience.
Insurance | Marine Hull Underwriting and Big Data
In the era of digital transformation, business processes in the insurance industry are also evolving using new technology. One of the main pillars of the business, underwriting, is increasingly data-driven. As a collaboration work with DD Consulting, the infographic summarized how big data can help better analyze underwriting risk.
These technology-driven processes are reshaping the insurance industry in recent years. In addition to the underwriting processes, we also covered how innovation is being introduced in claims processes.
Miscellaneous | Gender Ratio Visualized
There are some topics where visual content shines more: ratio, distribution, and rankings. Pulling statistic from The World Factbook, this infographic displayed sex ratio of the world clear as day. If pink catches your eyes more, the country has more women than men. If blue stands out, there are more men than women in the country.
In addition to the sex ratio that refers to physical characteristics at birth, we also visualized the Global Gender Gap Index. Unlike sex ratio, gender gap encompasses the difference between men and women in various societal factors, such as gender wage gap.
Rankings | The Largest Cities of the World: Population and Land Area Compared
Population is exploding—the global population more than doubled from 1960. Once upon a time, having a population of 50,000 was significant. Today, the Greater Tokyo, the most populous urban area in the world, has a population of 39.1 million. To grasp the idea on how large today’s most populous urban area is (and how small their area is), the infographic compared largest cities with other major cities in the world for both population and area.
We also looked at the global population from a different angle in “Densely Populated Countries Around the World.” The infographic listed up the nine most crowded countries in the world.
Summing up: 2021
2020 left with fear and uncertainty. 2021 was the year when people somewhat started reacting and coping with the given situation. Some bright global events took place in 2021, such as Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. These events reminded us of the importance of togetherness, humanity, and unity.
Climate change, global pandemic, economic turmoil, green transformation, technological development, disparity and equality—these are important subjects but can be complicated. That’s where infographics can be valuable. We InsightsArtist will continue expanding our creativity into more visually-engaging infographics in 2022.
Last but not least, wishing every single one of our subscribers and visitors a joyous and prosperous new year!
