Statista

Every year, a handful of books manage to capture the world's attention. They spark conversations, top charts, and end up on nightstands across the globe. On World Book Day, here's a look at the titles that dominated 2025. More statistics on the book market can be found here: https://lnkd.in/enfEHjsV

Who are America's Best Employers for Company Culture? Over 217,000 employees working at companies with at least 1,000 employees in the United States were surveyed for the latest ranking by Statista R and Forbes. The analysis also includes company culture–related KPIs, capturing internal initiatives, and leadership composition. Insurance, healthcare, and financial firms dominate the ranking, showing that strong performance and strong culture can go hand in hand. Structured people practices continue to translate into real competitive advantage. More information can be found here: https://lnkd.in/g3QEma-j Progressive Insurance UT MD Anderson Microsoft The Hartford Mutual of Omaha

China was the world’s largest producer of solar energy in 2025, according to data by energy think tank Ember. Last year, the nation produced 1,175 TWh of solar power in total. The next biggest solar powers were the United States, India, Japan and Germany. Together, these five countries accounted for 70 percent of the world’s solar output. In 2025, solar power generation reached a record high of 2,778 TWh, up 30 percent from the previous year. This is the highest level on record and the fastest growth rate in eight years. Analysts at Ember note that total solar output now matches the entire electricity demand of the EU-27. According to the report, solar accounted for 68 percent of all renewable capacity additions from 2019 to 2024. This is partly due to falling costs of solar panels, with prices dropping by 90 percent between 2015 and 2024. China also led in new capacity growth, adding an additional 336 TWh of solar generation between 2024 and 2025. This is nearly half of all solar additions globally (636 TWh) that year. The United States (+85 TWh), India (+53 TWh), Brazil (+17.3 TWh) and Pakistan (+16.8 TWh) recorded the next largest gains.

When Steve Jobs resigned from his position as Apple CEO on August 24, 2011, the stock market reaction was surprisingly muted. After all, Jobs was considered the visionary behind Apple’s resurgence from near bankruptcy in the late 1990s, and yet, Apple’s share price dropped by less than 1 percent on the day following the change of the guard. 10 years later, it’s safe to say that shareholders were right in trusting Jobs’ judgement that the company would be in good hands with Tim Cook, who had long been groomed as Jobs’ heir apparent. For shareholders of Apple, the tenure of CEO Tim Cook has been an unqualified success. Since taking over in August 2011, Apple’s stock has risen more than twentyfold, equivalent to an average annual return of over 20 percent, excluding dividends. Under Cook, Apple became the first company to reach a $1 trillion market valuation in 2018 and is now worth more than $4 trillion. Despite navigating multiple crises, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade wars, the Covid-19 pandemic and a surge in global inflation, Cook steadily drove Apple’s expansion while gradually reducing its reliance on the iPhone. The company’s services division alone now generates more than $100 billion in annual revenue. Even so, Cook’s successor John Ternus faces significant challenges. Apple’s artificial intelligence strategy is under scrutiny. A revamped, AI-powered Siri expected this fall will need to deliver, while Ternus also inherits the high expectations set by his predecessors: relentless growth, with any year without record-breaking revenue likely to be seen as a disappointment, regardless of the broader economic environment.

After months of speculation, it’s now official: Tim Cook will step down as CEO of Apple on September 1 and move to the company’s board. He will be succeeded by John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering and a long-time frontrunner for the role. Cook first took over the prestigious position as Apple’s CEO in 2011, following on from Steve Jobs, the company’s visionary co-founder and driving force behind its resurgence in the late 1990s. Seen as a calm and operationally focused leader, Cook was identified as an ideal successor. Widely credited as the architect of Apple’s highly efficient global supply chain during his time as COO, Cook oversaw a period of extraordinary growth. Under his leadership, Apple became the first company to reach a $1 trillion market valuation in 2018 and has since grown to around $4 trillion. Revenue and profits surged, with the company surpassing $100 billion in annual profit for the first time in its most recent fiscal year. Despite these achievements, Cook has faced criticism for a perceived lack of groundbreaking innovation. While Apple launched major successes such as the Apple Watch and AirPods, it has yet to deliver a product with the transformative impact of the iPhone. The closest attempt, the Vision Pro headset launched in 2023, fell short of expectations due to its high price and limited demand. “It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as Apple’s CEO,” Cook said in a statement, praising his successor: “John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator and the values to lead with integrity.”

The global Cannabis market is set for steady growth as evolving regulations, rising consumer acceptance, and increasing medical use drive demand. The Americas remain the largest region, expanding from US$57.9 billion in 2025 to US$68.6 billion by 2030 (CAGR 3.5%), supported by ongoing legalization and a mature market. Europe grows from US$6.8 billion to US$8.0 billion (CAGR 3.5%) as medical adoption increases and regulatory frameworks gradually evolve. Asia remains a smaller, more restricted market, rising from US$2.6 billion to US$2.8 billion (CAGR 1.8%), while Africa grows from US$0.8 billion to US$0.9 billion (CAGR 2.4%) from a low base, supported by improving regulations and cultivation potential. Australia & Oceania expands from US$2.7 billion to US$3.2 billion (CAGR 3.6%), driven by growing medical use. Overall, growth is underpinned by legalization trends, shifting consumer preferences toward natural therapies, and region-specific regulatory dynamics. More market insights can be found here: https://lnkd.in/es8AP-wv

The biggest barrier to enterprise AI adoption in 2026 isn't the technology. It's a skills shortage. 51% of business leaders in the Americas say it's their top concern when moving agentic AI from pilot to production. Bank tech stacks are typically 20+ years old, and the engineers who know those systems are retiring. The organizations getting ahead aren't just running training programs. They're redesigning how work is organized around agents. That's a harder lift, but a more durable advantage. Our Investment Priorities 2026 whitepaper covers this in full. Download it for free, here: https://lnkd.in/dGR5G6y3

Statista is joining Innotechnics for an upcoming webinar on Agentic AI and its impact on business operations. Raynor de Best will share insights on how AI agents are moving beyond automation and starting to influence decision-making, workflows, and cost structures. Key topics include cybersecurity, the shift from SaaS to agent-based systems, and the infrastructure needed to support these developments. For anyone looking to better understand where AI-driven operations are heading towards 2026, this session is worth a closer look. Register here: https://lnkd.in/efBwgFz6

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When UNESCO established the List of World Heritage in Danger under the 1972 World Heritage Convention, the mandate was as simple as it was ambitious: alert the international community when humanity's most irreplaceable places are under threat and mobilize support before it's too late. More than five decades on, that list never felt more urgent. As the Statista Racing Bar shows, the geography of risk has shifted dramatically over time. For most of the list's history, Africa held the most sites classified as in danger. That changed in the 2010s, when the Arab States overtook Africa sharply, driven by devastating conflicts in Syria and Yemen and the inscription of sites in Palestine. Today, the Arab States account for 22 of the 53 endangered properties worldwide. And there is no sign of the pressure easing. After a brief plateau in the number of endangered sites, 2026 looks set to escalate further. In March 2026, the Golestan Palace in Tehran, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was struck by debris and shockwaves from nearby airstrikes. UNESCO has since reported damage to dozens of historic sites in Iran alone, reigniting a fierce debate over the 1954 Hague Convention, which obliges signatories to protect cultural property during armed conflict. Yet armed conflict is far from the only threat. The reasons a site lands on the danger list vary dramatically: the slow erosion of natural heritage in Africa driven by climate change, aggressive urban development quietly altering historic cityscapes. Even Cologne Cathedral and the Historic Centre of Vienna were flagged, not by bombs, but by construction projects threatening their visual integrity. Put in perspective, the overall picture offers a telling contrast. The total number of World Heritage Sites recognized by UNESCO has grown steadily and now exceeds 1,200. The regions shouldering the heaviest burden, the Arab States and Africa, are also among those with comparatively few inscribed sites overall, while Europe and North America host the largest share yet face far fewer properties at risk. The disparity is as much political and geographic as it is cultural.