Every human need
One real number for each of six needs, with its year, its source and its licence. These describe the world now. They are not predictions, and they are the reason we think the work is worth doing.
8.5% of the world's people were undernourished in 2023.
We believe robots that plant, tend and harvest, guided by a superintelligence that learns every field, could help every harvest reach every table.
73.7% of people used safely managed drinking water in 2024. About one person in four did not.
We believe tireless machines and smarter engineering could build, repair and watch over the pipes, pumps and treatment plants that safe water depends on.
23.2% of the world's urban population lived in slums in 2022.
We believe robot builders and AI design could make a safe, good home something that can be built quickly, to a standard, for anyone.
The world's under-5 mortality rate was 37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024.
We believe AI could bring the knowing how of the best doctor to every clinic, and speed up the medicines and vaccines that protect children.
91.9% of people had access to electricity in 2024. The rest, about 8%, did not.
We believe robots could build and maintain clean power at a scale people alone cannot, and AI could run the grids that carry it.
48.3% of children at the end of primary-school age were below minimum reading proficiency in 2019 (learning poverty).
We believe a patient AI tutor in every child's own language could be there for every learner, wherever the nearest school is.
World aggregates. Each figure is the most recent value the World Bank published for the world on 2026-10-04, so the years differ by series. Percentages are shares of people unless a unit says otherwise.
The three ingredients
Behind every need are the same three things. Here is one real, current fact for each.
Sources
Figures were read directly from each provider's own data service on 2026-10-04. A figure we could not verify at its source is left out, never guessed.
| Measure | Figure | Year | Source | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 8.5% of the world's people were undernourished in 2023. | 2023 | World Bank WDI (FAO (SDG 2.1.1)) | CC BY 4.0 |
| Water | 73.7% of people used safely managed drinking water in 2024. About one person in four did not. | 2024 | World Bank WDI (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme) | CC BY 4.0 |
| Shelter | 23.2% of the world's urban population lived in slums in 2022. | 2022 | World Bank WDI (UN-Habitat Urban Indicators Database) | CC BY 4.0 |
| Health | The world's under-5 mortality rate was 37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024. | 2024 | World Bank WDI (UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation) | CC BY 4.0 |
| Energy | 91.9% of people had access to electricity in 2024. The rest, about 8%, did not. | 2024 | World Bank WDI (SDG 7.1.1 Electrification Dataset (Tracking SDG7)) | CC BY 4.0 |
| Learning | 48.3% of children at the end of primary-school age were below minimum reading proficiency in 2019 (learning poverty). | 2019 | World Bank WDI (World Bank / UNESCO Institute for Statistics (learning poverty)) | CC BY 4.0 |
| Work (ingredient) | The world's factories now run a record 5 million industrial robots, up 9% in 2025. | 2025 | International Federation of Robotics (press release, Sep 24, 2026) | Quoted fact from an IFR press release (Sep 24, 2026); © IFR, linked and attributed, not reproduced |
| Energy (ingredient) | Solar produced 8.7% of the world's electricity in 2025. | 2025 | Ember, via Our World in Data | CC BY 4.0 (Ember; shown via Our World in Data) |
| Knowing how (ingredient) | An AI system's predicted protein structures are now free to every scientist: over 200 million of them. | 2026 | EMBL-EBI AlphaFold Protein Structure Database | CC BY 4.0 (EMBL-EBI AlphaFold Protein Structure Database) |
Open data attribution: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), reproducing series from the agencies named in each row. Our World in Data charts and data are CC BY 4.0, third-party series carry their original licence. Full notes, including the check against Our World in Data and the figures we left out, are in SOURCES.md.
LeukLogic