Max Roser

Roser was born in Kirchheimbolanden, Germany, a village close to the border with France. In 1999, he and a friend won a prize in the German youth science competition {{Lang|de|Jugend forscht}} with a model of a self-navigating vacuum cleaner.{{Cite web |last=imfernsehen GmbH & Co. KG |date=3 July 1999 |title=Tigerenten Club Folge 183 Jugend forscht '99 |url=https://www.fernsehserien.de/tigerenten-club/folgen/183-folge-183-697306 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825114019/https://www.fernsehserien.de/tigerenten-club/folgen/183-folge-183-697306 |archive-date=August 25, 2019 |access-date=August 25, 2019 |website=Fernsehserien.de |language=de}} Der Spiegel reported that he travelled the length of the Nile from the mouth to the source, and that he crossed the Himalayas and the Andes.{{Cite news |last=Schmundt |first=Hilmar |date=2016-01-02 |title=Statistiken Frohe Botschaft |language=de |volume=1 |newspaper=Der Spiegel |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-140750282.html |url-status=live |access-date=2016-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207093331/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-140750282.html |archive-date=2016-02-07}}{{subscription required}}

He has two undergraduate degrees (in geoscience and philosophy) and two master's degrees (in economics and philosophy). Roser completed his doctoral dissertation in 2011 at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.{{Cite news |last=mb |date=February 2016 |title=Gute Nachrichten |language=de |volume=2016 |pages=49 |website=zukunft forschung |publisher=University of Innsbruck |issue=2 |url=https://www.uibk.ac.at/forschung/magazin/17/seite49.pdf |access-date=11 May 2023 |archive-date=11 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511125144/https://www.uibk.ac.at/forschung/magazin/17/seite49.pdf |url-status=live }}

After completing his doctorate, Roser joined the University of Oxford in 2012 under the mentorship of economist Sir Tony Atkinson, a scholar of poverty and inequality. At Oxford, he collaborated with Piketty, Morelli, and Atkinson.{{Cite news |title=INET Oxford Highlights: 2012—2014 |url=https://www.inet.ox.ac.uk/files/INET_Highlights_Report_2012-14.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824094723/https://www.inet.ox.ac.uk/files/INET_Highlights_Report_2012-14.pdf |archive-date=2019-08-24 |access-date=2019-08-24 |work=The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School}}

Roser founded Our World In Data, a scientific web publication with the goal to present "research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems."{{Cite web |title=Our World in Data |url=https://ourworldindata.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222015953/https://ourworldindata.org/ |archive-date=2020-02-22 |access-date=2019-08-24 |website=Our World in Data}}

In the early years, Roser largely built and funded Our World in Data on his own. During the first years, he financed his project by working as a bicycle tour guide around Europe.{{Cite web |title=History of Our World in Data |url=https://ourworldindata.org/history-of-our-world-in-data |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320025119/https://ourworldindata.org/history-of-our-world-in-data |archive-date=2021-03-20 |access-date=2019-10-29 |website=Our World in Data}}

Roser credits Atkinson with encouraging him to share his growing dataset on global living conditions publicly, an idea that directly led to the creation of Our World in Data. In 2015, he established a research team at the University of Oxford, which is studying global development.{{Cite web |title=The Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development |url=https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/global-development/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605202726/https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/global-development/ |archive-date=5 June 2019 |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Oxford Martin School |language=en}} In 2019, he worked with Y Combinator on Our World in Data.{{Cite web |last1=Roser |first1=Max |last2=Ritchie |first2=Hannah |last3=Ortiz-Ospina |first3=Esteban |last4=Mispy |first4=Jaiden |last5=Hasell |first5=Joe |last6=Gavrilov |first6=Daniel |date=25 January 2019 |title=Our World in Data is at Y Combinator |url=https://ourworldindata.org/owid-at-ycombinator |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320025122/https://ourworldindata.org/owid-at-ycombinator |archive-date=2021-03-20 |access-date=2019-08-24 |website=Our World in Data}}

File:Global population cartogram.png

Our World In Data covers a range of aspects of development: global health, food provision, the growth and distribution of incomes, violence, rights, wars, technology, education, and environmental changes, among others. The publication makes use of data visualisations which are licensed under Creative Commons and are widely used in research, in the media, and as teaching material.{{Cite web|url=http://ourworldindata.org/media-coverage/|title=Media Coverage of OurWorldInData.org — Our World in Data|website=ourworldindata.org|access-date=2015-09-27|archive-date=2015-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104060054/http://ourworldindata.org/media-coverage/|url-status=live}}

As of May 2025, his research was cited more than 50,000 times, according to Google Scholar. By 2025, Our World in Data has an annual readership of 100 million people.{{Cite web |title=Our World in Data: Transforming data into global impact |url=https://socsci.web.ox.ac.uk/our-world-in-data-transforming-data-into-global-impact |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=socsci.web.ox.ac.uk |language=en}}

Roser said that there are three messages of his work: "The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better".{{Cite web |last=Roser |first=Max |date=20 July 2022 |title=The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better |url=https://ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107145209/https://ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better |archive-date=2018-11-07 |access-date=2018-11-07 |website=Our World in Data}} He listed global poverty, inequality, existential risks, human rights abuse, and humanity's environmental impact among the world's most severe problems.{{Cite web |title=Die Menschheit war früher viel gewalttätiger |url=http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/593935/1/Alles-wird-gut |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907104358/http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/593935/1/Alles-wird-gut |archive-date=2015-09-07 |access-date=2015-09-27 |website=Süddeutsche Zeitung}} He said that "it is because the world is terrible still that it is so important to write about how the world became a better place."

He wrote, "The mission of this work has never changed: from the first days in 2011, Our World in Data focused on the big global problems and asked how it is possible to make progress against them. The enemies of this effort were also always the same: apathy and cynicism."{{Cite web |title=History of Our World in Data |url=https://ourworldindata.org/history-of-our-world-in-data |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Our World in Data |date=December 2020 |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320025119/https://ourworldindata.org/history-of-our-world-in-data |url-status=live |last1=Roser |first1=Max }}

He is critical of the mass media's excessive focus on single events, which he claims is not helpful in understanding "the long-lasting, forceful changes that reshape our world, as well as the large, long-standing problems that continue to confront us."{{Cite web|url=https://ourworldindata.org/about|title=About|website=Our World in Data|access-date=2019-08-24|archive-date=2018-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005151814/https://ourworldindata.org/about|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.inet.ox.ac.uk/people/view/39|title=Dr Max Roser {{!}} People {{!}} Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School|website=www.inet.ox.ac.uk|publisher=Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School|access-date=2015-09-27|archive-date=2015-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919093214/http://www.inet.ox.ac.uk/people/view/39|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Data Stories #57: Visualizing Human Development with Max Roser |url=http://datastori.es/data-stories-57-human-dev-w-max-roser/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929132944/http://datastori.es/data-stories-57-human-dev-w-max-roser/ |archive-date=2015-09-29 |access-date=2015-10-24 |website=Data Stories|date=8 July 2015 }} In contrast to the event-focused reporting of the news media Roser advocates the adoption of a broader perspective on global change, and in particular a focus on those living in poverty. The focus on the upper classes, especially in historical perspective, is misleading since it does not expose the hardship of those in the worst living conditions.{{Cite news |last=Roser |first=Max |date=2015-03-27 |title=Income inequality: poverty falling faster than ever but the 1% are racing ahead |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/27/income-inequality-rising-falling-worlds-richest-poorest |url-status=live |access-date=2015-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927220437/http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/27/income-inequality-rising-falling-worlds-richest-poorest |archive-date=2015-09-27}} File:Life expectancy by world region since 1770, OWID.svgRoser advocates looking at larger trends in poverty, education, health, and violence since these are slowly, but persistently changing the world and are neglected in the reporting of today's mass media.

Roser is known for his research on how global living conditions are changing and his visualisations of these trends.{{Cite news |title=Here's how many people have died in war in the last 600 years |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2015/05/29/heres-how-many-people-have-died-in-war-in-the-last-600-years/ |url-status=dead |access-date=2015-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927185921/http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2015/05/29/heres-how-many-people-have-died-in-war-in-the-last-600-years/ |archive-date=2015-09-27}}{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=2015-02-10 |title=How Obama's optimism about the world explains his foreign policy |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/2/10/8001973/obama-world-getting-better |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010234326/http://www.vox.com/2015/2/10/8001973/obama-world-getting-better |archive-date=2015-10-10 |access-date=2015-09-27 |website=Vox}}{{Cite web |last=Rudež |first=Tanja |date=30 October 2014 |title=Zbog ebole i terorizma čini nam se da je svijet užasan, ali istina je suprotna: Nikad nam nije bilo ovako dobro |url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/nova-studija-s-oxforda-o-razvoju-svijeta--nikad-nam-nije-bilo-ovako-dobro-/1231993/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928010500/http://www.jutarnji.hr/nova-studija-s-oxforda-o-razvoju-svijeta--nikad-nam-nije-bilo-ovako-dobro-/1231993/ |archive-date=2015-09-28 |access-date=2015-09-27 |website=Jutarnji list |language=hr}} He has shown that in many societies in the past, a large share (over 40%) of children died.{{Cite web |last=Roser |first=Max |date=11 April 2023 |title=Mortality in the past – around half died as children |url=https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824094726/https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-in-the-past |archive-date=2019-08-24 |access-date=2019-08-24 |website=Our World in Data}}

One of the project’s most influential contributions came during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 Roser’s team pivoted much of their effort toward collecting and disseminating up-to-date data on the pandemic’s development. They built global databases on vaccinations and testing and built freely accessible tools to see and download all COVID data.

Roser advocates for academics and researchers to openly share their knowledge to benefit the public. “Science that is not communicated is not much help; it is just a stack of papers in a drawer,” Roser wrote. Accordingly, he has made openness a cornerstone of Our World in Data – not only is the platform free to access, but its content is licensed for free reuse, and even the tools and code are always shared openly.

Beyond building public resources, Roser has contributed original research. Poverty alleviation is a central focus: Roser’s work has examined how poverty is defined and measured worldwide. Roser has criticized the practice of focusing on the international poverty line alone. In his research, he suggests a poverty line at 10.89 international dollars per day.{{Cite journal |last1=Sterck |first1=Olivier |last2=Roser |first2=Max |last3=Ncube |first3=Mthuli |last4=Thewissen |first4=Stefan |date=5 February 2018 |title=Allocation of development assistance for health: is the predominance of national income justified? |url=https://academic.oup.com/heapol/article/33/suppl_1/i14/2996762 |journal=Health Policy and Planning |volume=33 |issue=suppl_1 |pages=i14–i23 |doi=10.1093/heapol/czw173 |issn=0268-1080 |pmc=5886300 |pmid=29415236}} They stated this is the minimum level people needed to have access to basic healthcare. The reason for the low global poverty line is to focus attention on the world's very poorest population.{{Cite web |last1=Hasell |first1=Joe |last2=Roser |first2=Max |date=5 February 2019 |title=How do we know the history of extreme poverty? |url=https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-history-methods |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207002735/https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-history-methods |archive-date=2021-12-07 |access-date=2019-03-04 |website=Our World in Data}} He proposes using several different poverty lines to understand what is happening to global poverty. In 2015 research, he studied with Tony Atkinson, Brian Nolan, and others how benefits from economic growth are distributed.{{Cite journal |last1=Nolan |first1=Brian |last2=Roser |first2=Max |last3=Thewissen |first3=Stefan |date=2019 |title=GDP Per Capita Versus Median Household Income: What Gives Rise to the Divergence Over Time and how does this Vary Across OECD Countries? |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b63555b4-bcac-4b94-b4a5-ee27202098b8 |journal=Review of Income and Wealth |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=465–494 |doi=10.1111/roiw.12362 |issn=1475-4991 |s2cid=158875885 |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal |last1=Smeeding |first1=Tim |last2=Roser |first2=Max |last3=Nolan |first3=Brian |last4=Kenworthy |first4=Lane |last5=Thewissen |first5=Stefan |date=2018-05-15 |title=Rising Income Inequality and Living Standards in OECD Countries: How Does the Middle Fare? |url=https://jid.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jid/article/view/40351 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Income Distribution |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=1–23 |issn=1874-6322 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824154954/https://jid.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jid/article/view/40351 |archive-date=2019-08-24 |access-date=2019-08-24}}{{Cite web |last=Atkinson, Hasell, Morelli, and Roser |title=The Chartbook of Economic Inequality – Data on Economic Inequality over the long-run |url=https://www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920011529/https://www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com/ |archive-date=2019-09-20 |access-date=2019-08-24 |website=www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com}} With Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, he studied the history of international trade.{{Cite journal |last1=Roser |first1=Max |last2=Cuaresma |first2=Jesus Crespo |date=2012-07-01 |title=Borders Redrawn: Measuring the Statistical Creation of International Trade |journal=Working Papers in Economics and Finance |location=Rochester, NY |ssrn=2111864}}

Economic inequality is another major theme of Roser’s academic work, building on his doctoral expertise. In one of his studies, they investigated why median household incomes in many OECD countries have grown more slowly than GDP per capita, exploring factors behind the divergence between overall economic growth and typical living standards. To make historical inequality data more accessible, Roser co-published the Chartbook of Economic Inequality, which presents over a century of inequality indicators for 25 countries.

In the field of global health, Roser has published several studies. In October 2019, he co-authored a study of child mortality. It was the first global study that mapped child deaths at the subnational district level.{{Cite journal |last1=Burstein |first1=Roy |last2=Henry |first2=Nathaniel J. |last3=Collison |first3=Michael L. |last4=Marczak |first4=Laurie B. |last5=Sligar |first5=Amber |last6=Watson |first6=Stefanie |last7=Marquez |first7=Neal |last8=Abbasalizad-Farhangi |first8=Mahdieh |last9=Abbasi |first9=Masoumeh |last10=Abd-Allah |first10=Foad |last11=Abdoli |first11=Amir |date=October 2019 |title=Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017 |journal=Nature |volume=574 |issue=7778 |pages=353–358 |bibcode=2019Natur.574..353B |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1545-0 |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=6800389 |pmid=31619795 |doi-access=free}} The study, published in Nature, was described as an important step to make action possible that further reduces child mortality.{{Cite journal |last=Bachelet |first=Michelle |author-link=Michelle Bachelet |date=2019-10-16 |title=Data on child deaths are a call for justice |journal=Nature |volume=574 |issue=7778 |pages=297 |bibcode=2019Natur.574..297B |doi=10.1038/d41586-019-03058-6 |pmid=31619786 |doi-access=free}} During the pandemic his team published several studies on COVID-19. He also contributed to a global health textbook.{{cite book |last1=Kohler |first1=Stefan |url= |title=Global Health |last2=Roser |first2=Max |last3=Geldsetzer |first3=Pascal |last4=Bärnighausen |first4=Till |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2021 |isbn=978-3-11-044847-4 |editor-last=Bonk |editor-first=Mathias |pages=523–556 |language=de |trans-title= |chapter=Ökonomie und globale Gesundheit |trans-chapter=Economics and Global Health |doi=10.1515/9783110448474-020 |editor2-last=Ulrichs |editor2-first=Timo |doi-access=free}} His most cited article, coauthored with Hannah Ritchie and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, is concerned with global population growth.{{Cite web |title=Max Roser - Google Scholar Citations |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=93855cwAAAAJ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806233437/https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=93855cwAAAAJ |archive-date=2022-08-06 |access-date=2019-11-09 |website=scholar.google.com}} File:Global annual CO2 emissions by world region since 1750.svg]]

Another significant research interest for Roser is environmental and climate change. In 2017, Roser and Felix Pretis found that the growth rate in CO₂ emission intensity exceeded the projections of all climate scenarios.{{Cite journal |last1=Pretis |first1=Felix |last2=Roser |first2=Max |date=2017-09-15 |title=Carbon dioxide emission-intensity in climate projections: Comparing the observational record to socio-economic scenarios |journal=Energy |volume=135 |pages=718–725 |doi=10.1016/j.energy.2017.06.119 |issn=0360-5442 |pmc=5625523 |pmid=29033490 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2017Ene...135..718P }} Roser’s team at Our World in Data also publishes data and research on biodiversity, deforestation, CO₂ emissions, and other environmental indicators, providing an empirical basis for discussions of environmental problems.

By the mid-2010s, Roser was a regular speaker at conferences where he presented empirical data on how the world is changing.{{Cite magazine |date=2015-10-15 |title=Max Roser WIRED 2015 talk: good data will make you an economic optimist (Wired UK) |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-10/15/max-roser-data-visualisation-wired-2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018164437/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-10/15/max-roser-data-visualisation-wired-2015 |archive-date=2015-10-18 |access-date=2015-10-24 |magazine=Wired UK}} He has been part of the Statistical Advisory Panel of UNDP.{{Cite web |title={{!}} Human Development Reports |url=http://www.hdr.undp.org/en/towards-hdr-2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101035557/http://hdr.undp.org/en/towards-hdr-2019 |archive-date=2019-11-01 |access-date=2019-11-02 |website=www.hdr.undp.org}} UN Secretary-General António Guterres invited him to internal retreats attended by the heads of the UN institutions to speak about his global development research.{{Cite web |title=Max Roser {{!}} Blavatnik School of Government |url=http://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/people/max-roser |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=www.bsg.ox.ac.uk |language=en}}

In 2015, Tina Rosenberg wrote in The New York Times that Roser's work presents a "big picture that’s an important counterpoint to the constant barrage of negative world news."{{Cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Tina |date=2015-04-09 |title=Turning to Big, Big Data to See What Ails the World |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/turning-to-big-big-data-to-see-what-ails-the-world/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511125140/https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/turning-to-big-big-data-to-see-what-ails-the-world/ |archive-date=11 May 2023 |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=The New York Times |language=en}} In 2013, Angus Deaton cited Roser in his book The Great Escape.{{Cite book |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691153544/the-great-escape |title=The Great Escape |date=2013-09-23 |isbn=978-0-691-15354-4 |language=en |access-date=11 May 2023 |archive-date=11 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511125143/https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691153544/the-great-escape |url-status=live |last1=Deaton |first1=Angus |publisher=Princeton University Press }} His research is cited in academic journals including Science,{{Cite journal|last1=Nagendra|first1=Harini|last2=DeFries|first2=Ruth|date=2017-04-21|title=Ecosystem management as a wicked problem|journal=Science|volume=356|issue=6335|pages=265–270|doi=10.1126/science.aal1950|issn=0036-8075|pmid=28428392|bibcode=2017Sci...356..265D|s2cid=11224600}} Nature,{{Cite journal|last=Topol|first=Eric J.|date=January 2019|title=High-performance medicine: the convergence of human and artificial intelligence|journal=Nature Medicine|volume=25|issue=1|pages=44–56|doi=10.1038/s41591-018-0300-7|pmid=30617339|s2cid=57574615|issn=1546-170X|hdl=10654/45728|hdl-access=free}} and The Lancet.{{Cite journal|last1=Mpanju-Shumbusho|first1=Winnie|last2=Woo|first2=Hyun Ju|last3=Wegbreit|first3=Jennifer|last4=Tulloch|first4=James|last5=Staley|first5=Kenneth|last6=Singh|first6=Balbir|last7=Shanks|first7=Dennis|last8=Rolfe|first8=Ben|last9=Roh|first9=Michelle|date=2019-09-21|title=Malaria eradication within a generation: ambitious, achievable, and necessary|url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)31139-0/abstract|journal=The Lancet|language=en|volume=394|issue=10203|pages=1056–1112|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31139-0|issn=0140-6736|pmid=31511196|s2cid=202044083|access-date=2019-09-22|archive-date=2022-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806233439/https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)31139-0/fulltext|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Yamin|first1=Alicia Ely|last2=Uprimny|first2=Rodrigo|last3=Periago|first3=Mirta Roses|last4=Ooms|first4=Gorik|last5=Koh|first5=Howard|last6=Hossain|first6=Sara|last7=Goosby|first7=Eric|last8=Evans|first8=Timothy Grant|last9=DeLand|first9=Katherine|date=2019-05-04|title=The legal determinants of health: harnessing the power of law for global health and sustainable development|url= |journal=The Lancet|language=en|volume=393|issue=10183|pages=1857–1910|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30233-8|issn=0140-6736|pmid=31053306|pmc=7159296|doi-access=free}}

The data visualization expert Edward Tufte repeatedly cited and reprinted the work by Max Roser in his books.{{Cite web |title=Edward Tufte: Books - Seeing with Fresh E |url=https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/seeing-with-fresh-eyes |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=www.edwardtufte.com}}{{Cite web |title=Striving for Graphical Excellence with Edward Tufte |url=http://www.askyourdata.co/1/post/2019/03/striving-for-graphical-excellence-with-edward-tufte.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Ask your data |language=de}}

Roser developed a global cartogram in which the area of each country represents the size of the country’s population. He published it open access and it became widely used in the media (including the FT, The Economist, and in open source applications).

In 2019, he was listed in second place among the "World’s Top 50 Thinkers" by Prospect Magazine.{{Cite web |last=Prospect Team |date=16 July 2019 |title=The world's top 50 thinkers 2019 |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/prospect-worlds-top-50-thinkers-2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828121132/https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/prospect-worlds-top-50-thinkers-2019 |archive-date=2019-08-28 |access-date=2019-08-24 |website=Prospect}}

In 2019, Our World in Data won the Lovie Award, the European web award, "in recognition of their outstanding use of data and the internet to supply the general public with understandable data-driven research – the kind necessary to invoke social, economic, and environmental change."{{Cite web|url=https://www.lovieawards.eu/features/2019-winners-announced/|title=Meet The 2019 Lovie Awards Special Achievement Winners|date=2019-10-07|website=The Lovie Awards|access-date=2019-10-29|archive-date=2019-10-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016172421/https://www.lovieawards.eu/features/2019-winners-announced/|url-status=live}}

In 2021, he received the Covid Innovation Heroes Award "for an outstanding contribution to public understanding for helping people across the world see, and more importantly, understand critical pandemic data."{{Cite web |title=Covid Innovation Heroes Awards |url=https://theoxfordtrust.co.uk/covid-innovation-heroes-awards/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=The Oxford Trust |language=en-US}}

In 2022, he was selected as one of "The Future Perfect 50", as one of 50 scientists and writers who are building a better future.{{Cite web |last=Chittal |first=Nisha |date=2022-10-20 |title=The Future Perfect 50 |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23399287/future-perfect-50-change-agents |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511125141/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23399287/future-perfect-50-change-agents |archive-date=11 May 2023 |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Vox |language=en}}

In 2025, the Universities of KU Leuven and UCLouvain awarded him an honorary doctorate.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Official website}}
• [http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/people/624 Max Roser at the Oxford Martin School]
• [http://ourworldindata.org/ Our World in Data] – one of the web publications of Max Roser

• [https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it] – Our World in Data
• [https://ourworldindata.org/limits-personal-experience The limits of our personal experience and the value of statistics] – Our World in Data
• [https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-cartogram The map we need if we want to think about how global living conditions are changing] – Our World in Data
• [https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/27/income-inequality-rising-falling-worlds-richest-poorest Income inequality: poverty falling faster than ever but the 1% are racing ahead] – The Guardian
• [https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2017/02/14/seeing-human-lives-in-spreadsheets-the-work-of-hans-rosling/ ‘Seeing human lives in spreadsheets’ – Hans Rosling (1948–2017)] – British Medical Journal (BMJ) – Opinion; February 2017
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/29/stop-saying-that-2016-was-the-worst-year/ Why do we not hear the good news?] – Washington Post; December 2016.
• [https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/media/3134/nuffield-magazine-18-web.pdf Inequality is a Choice] – in Nuffield College Magazine, Issue 18. An edition in the memory of Tony Atkinson.

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