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Here are 50 facts from the first half of 2025.

Trade & Immigration

“Of the servers imported by the U.S.—including AI and non-AI servers—about 70% come from Mexico, according to a report by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.” Link

In 2023, the US had the lowest tariff levels in the world, lower than the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and China. Link

Mexico exported approximately $500 billion worth of goods to the U.S. in 2024, accounting for fully 83% of Mexico’s total exports and 28% of GDP. Link

From 2020 to 2023, net migration to the UAE alone amounted to 12% of the population. Link

Investing

If you had invested from 1960-1980 and beaten the market by 5% each year, you would have made less money than if you had invested from 1980-2000 and underperformed the market by 5% a year. Link

The Magnificent 7 added about $11 trillion in market cap from January 2023 through January 2025. That’s the equivalent of all UK, French, and German stock market caps combined. Link

Palantir "stock-based compensation registered at $282 million over the final three months of last year, equivalent to 34% of revenue and nearly four times net income over that period”. Link

Across every region of the world, 17.5% of money losing companies continue to pay dividends, just as 31% of money-making companies choose not to pay dividends. Link

"Thirty-four ETFs earned a higher securities-lending return than their annual fee in 2024." Link

Steve Ballmer receives roughly $1 billion in Microsoft dividends annually. Link

58 wallets have made over $10 million each from $TRUMP, while 764,000 wallets lost money. Link

Personal Finance

In 2024, the number of certified financial planners hit 103,093 — an increase of 4.3% over 2023. Link

60% of general admission ticket buyers at Coachella used Buy-Now-Pay-Later to finance their tickets. Link

Less than 5% of adults currently have long-term care insurance. Link

Sixty-two percent of Americans in 2025 report owning stock, matching the 2024 reading and similar to the 61% recorded in 2023. This follows more than a decade, from 2010 to 2022, when the rate was below that mark. Link

In America today, for every $100 employers pay a year in wages, the dead leave behind $20. Link

People began referring to the dollar as a "buck" because a buckskin sold for $1 circa mid 19th century. Link

Alternative Investments

PE/VC-owned companies now make up 16% of all US bankruptcies, quadruple their share from 2010. Link

LCH Investments estimates of the $3.7 trillion in profits the hedge fund industry has earned since 1969, $1.8 trillion has gone to fees. Link

Nearly half of America’s "billion-dollar" startups were founded by people born outside the United States. Link

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan said that for about a quarter of the April 2025 YC startups, 95% of the code was written by AI. Link

Companies

Amazon's AWS revenue in 2024 ($108 billion) was higher than the revenue of 468 companies in the S&P 500. Link

Shopify handles more than 10% of all US online sales. Link

At its peak, De Beers controlled nearly 90% of the world’s diamond production. Link

Nvidia replaced Enron when it was added to the S&P 500. Link

In 2024, nearly 84% of Delta flights arrived on schedule putting Delta in first place in North America for the seventh year running. Second-ranked United achieved 80.9%, and no other U.S. carrier breached 80%. Link

META accounted for nearly half of all reported scams on Zelle for JPMorgan Chase between the summers of 2023 and 2024. Link

Costco's Kirkland brand generates more revenue than Lowe's and Procter & Gamble. Link

Media & Entertainment

Yellowstone is one of the most-valuable franchises in Hollywood, spanning shows that have generated $2.9 billion in sales and about $700 million in profit. Audiences have spent more than $450 million buying DVDs and downloads. Link

The Kanye West and Jay-Z song “No Church in the Wild” sampled a single instrumental line from a failed solo album recorded in the late 1970s by the Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera. The licensing proceeds provided Manzanera with “the biggest payday he had in the course of his entire career.” Link

The average drone show in the Middle East uses more than 400 drones and costs over $112,000. Link

Climate & Energy

There are now almost 400 local ordinances against renewable power in the U.S. Link

Electric vehicles were less than 3% of the US passenger car fleet at the end of 2024. Link

Rice cultivation is responsible for around 12% of global methane emissions. Link

99% of livestock in the United States is factory-farmed. Link

Europe now imports 54% of its energy—nearly all in fossil-fuel form—which is a record and higher than 20 years ago. Link

Socioeconomic

In 85% of marriages with a 14-year age disparity, the younger party is a woman. Link

Americans in their 20s are about half as likely to adopt their spouses’ names as were their octogenarian grandparents. Link

Between 2014 and 2023, student enrollment from Northeastern states rose by +106% at Florida, +230% at Ole Miss, +379% at Tennessee, and +486% at LSU. Link

The average person from the US holds 12.7 jobs over their career (from ages 18 to 56). Link

Between 2019 and 2023, the number of worldwide injectable aesthetic procedures, including botox and fillers, increased by 36%. Link

Total wine consumption is down more than 80% in France since 1945, according to survey data from Nielsen. Link

Sports

The Masters generates an estimated $70 million in merchandise sales during the tournament week. That translates to approximately $10 million a day, $1 million an hour, or $16,000 a minute. Link

Golf has surged on weekdays - there has been a a 178% rise at 3pm on Wednesdays. Link

FanDuel said 90% of its same-game parlays have a wager of $30 or less, while 60% are $5 or less. Link

Miscellaneous

If the coastline of the New York Harbor region were stretched out, it would be longer than the state of California. New York City's waterfront is bigger than those of Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston combined. Link

Five-day weather forecasts are accurate around 90% of the time, which is as accurate as three-day forecasts were in the 1990s. Ten-day forecasts are right ~50% of the time. Link 

The Moon is moving away from Earth by ~1.5 inches per year. Link

Your fingers wrinkle in the same pattern every time after long exposure to water. Link

“Of all the progress of the past 10,000 years in raising human living standards, half has occurred since 1990.” Link

According to a study, a person who was 70 in 2022 had the same cognitive ability as a 53-year-old in 2000. Link