Data Vis Dispatch, March 4: Trade, democracy, and Ukraine

Welcome back to the 183rd edition of Data Vis Dispatch! Every week, we’ll be publishing a collection of the best small and large data visualizations we find, especially from news organizations — to celebrate data journalism, data visualization, simple charts, elaborate maps, and their creators.

Recurring topics this week include trade, democracy, and support for Ukraine.

With German elections in the rearview mirror, attention this week turned to forming a governing coalition:

Bloomberg: Germany’s Splintered Politics Complicates Coalition Building, February 25

Zeit Online: <a href="https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2025-02/bundestagswahl-wahlergebnisse-gemeinden-wahlkarte"><strong>So hat Ihre Gemeinde gewählt</strong></a> [<em>How your municipality voted</em>], February 25 — Zeit Online: **So hat Ihre Gemeinde gewählt** [*How your municipality voted*], February 25

Zeit Online: <a href="https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2025-02/wahlergebnisse-grossstaedte-bundestagswahl-wahllokale-daten"><strong>Sie waren Hochburgen der Grünen – und wählen jetzt links</strong></a><strong> </strong>[<em>They were strongholds of the Greens — and now vote left</em>], February 25 — Zeit Online: **Sie waren Hochburgen der Grünen – und wählen jetzt links** [*They were strongholds of the Greens — and now vote left*], February 25

Although they're unlikely to be part of any coalition, the far-right AfD will be the second-largest party — part of a trend that goes much farther than Germany:

The Economist: <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/02/28/hard-right-parties-are-now-europes-most-popular"><strong>Hard-right parties are now Europe’s most popular</strong></a>, February 28 — The Economist: **Hard-right parties are now Europe’s most popular**, February 28

The Intersection: <a href="https://www.patrickruffini.com/p/what-bridges-the-gender-gap-marriage?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=a9hmi&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email"><strong>What bridges the gender gap? Marriage</strong></a>, February 27 — The Intersection: **What bridges the gender gap? Marriage**, February 27

The Washington Post: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/02/27/trump-popularity-young-americans/"><strong>The story behind the rightward shift of young men</strong></a>, February 27 — The Washington Post: **The story behind the rightward shift of young men**, February 27

It was a volatile week for Ukraine and its allies. After a confrontation in Washington and the collapse of a planned U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal, leaders in Europe rushed to declare their continued support:

Reuters: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/USA-MINERALS/gdpznylnqpw/"><strong>Ukraine announces minerals deal with US, no security guarantee</strong></a>, February 26 — Reuters: **Ukraine announces minerals deal with US, no security guarantee**, February 26

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/03/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-drones-deaths.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1E4.Ar4R.ktjxbfYvPNgY&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare"><strong>A Thousand Snipers in the Sky: The New War in Ukraine</strong></a>, March 3 — The New York Times: **A Thousand Snipers in the Sky: The New War in Ukraine**, March 3

Tortoise: <a href="https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2025/02/27/starmer-goes-to-washington"><strong>Defence of the realms</strong></a>, February 27 — Tortoise: **Defence of the realms**, February 27

Information is Beautiful: "Just to be clear on aid to Ukraine...," March 1 (<a href="https://x.com/infobeautiful/status/1895896593796104684"><strong>Tweet</strong></a>) — Information is Beautiful: "Just to be clear on aid to Ukraine...," March 1 (**Tweet**)

Samizdata: <a href="https://blog.samizdata.co/p/trumps-lies-about-ukraine-fact-checked"><strong>Trump's lies about Ukraine, fact-checked</strong></a>, March 1 — Samizdata: **Trump's lies about Ukraine, fact-checked**, March 1

Le Figaro / Arthur Bijotat: "L'administration Trump chamboule tout sur son passage et affirme que l'Europe doit assumer pleinement la responsabilité de sa propre sécurité [...]" [Article title: Can Europe really defend itself without the United States?], February 28 (Tweet)

In recent days, the U.S. imposed some tariffs and threatened more:

The Wall Street Journal: <a href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/us-trade-import-export-deficit-charts-490a7bce"><strong>The Countries Driving America’s $1.2 Trillion Trade Deficit in Goods</strong></a>, March 1 — The Wall Street Journal: **The Countries Driving America’s $1.2 Trillion Trade Deficit in Goods**, March 1

Deena Zaidi: <a href="https://deenazaidi.com/us-eu-trade-tariffs-imports-impact"><strong>US-EU: Trade War Looms as Trump threatens 25% Tariff on Imports from EU</strong></a>, February 27 — Deena Zaidi: **US-EU: Trade War Looms as Trump threatens 25% Tariff on Imports from EU**, February 27

It may be worth keeping an eye on these indices of climate risk and global democracy:

The Economist: <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/democracy-index-2024"><strong>The global democracy index: how did countries perform in 2024?</strong></a>, February 27 — The Economist: **The global democracy index: how did countries perform in 2024?**, February 27

Maps Mania: <a href="https://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2025/03/what-is-your-climate-vulnerability.html"><strong>What is Your Climate Vulnerability?</strong></a>, March 1 (<a href="https://map.climatevulnerabilityindex.org/map/cvi_overall/usa?mapBoundaries=Tract&mapFilter=0&reportBoundaries=Tract&geoContext=State"><strong>Website</strong></a>) — Maps Mania: **What is Your Climate Vulnerability?**, March 1 (**Website**)

Meanwhile, we followed several interesting conversations among data vis creators on social media this week, including a step-by-step recap from Gregor Aisch on the process of creating an election cartogram, and a lively critique from Francis Gagnon of this opinion chart in the New York Times:

Francis Gagnon: "Once again, the New York Times gives the dataviz community an opportunity to reflect on its purpose. Can everything be quantified and turned into a chart? Most important: what are the consequences of a chart? If words matter, charts matter too," March 2 (Bluesky)

Gregor Aisch: "For the German election we wanted to use a cartogram of German election districts but didn't find anything good, so we created our own. Here's a little nerd thread how the final algorithm worked [...]," February 27 (Bluesky)

Shri Khalpada: "I like using this little squiggle pattern as a broken axis symbol!," February 28 (Bluesky)

We take a quick break for sports:

South China Morning Post: <a href="https://multimedia.scmp.com/infographics/sport/article/3300482/kai-tak-sports-park/index.html"><strong>Kai Tak Stadium: a game-changer for Hong Kong</strong></a>, February 28 — South China Morning Post: **Kai Tak Stadium: a game-changer for Hong Kong**, February 28

Financial Times: <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/b242eee2-941b-43ba-8bb8-4c24f5614038"><strong>Manchester United is tackling the wrong problem</strong></a>, March 1 — Financial Times: **Manchester United is tackling the wrong problem**, March 1

And finally, other topics ranging from religious disaffiliation to transplant waiting lists:

Pew: <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/"><strong>Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off</strong></a>, February 26 — Pew: **Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off**, February 26

Financial Times:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d591fb1a-9f6c-4345-b5fc-781e091ae3f8"><strong>Surge in UK university students using AI to complete work</strong></a>, February 26 — Financial Times: **Surge in UK university students using AI to complete work**, February 26

The New York Times: Organ Transplant System ‘in Chaos’ as Waiting Lists Are Ignored, February 26

What else we found interesting

Reuters:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GAZA-WASTE/egpblkaagpq/"><strong>Gaza’s garbage crisis</strong></a>, February 25 — Reuters: **Gaza’s garbage crisis**, February 25

Auke-Floria: "JUST OUT! Time capsule birds' nests! I'm proud to share our discovery of layers of vintage plastic in urban birds’ nests... going back decades in time [...]," February 28 (Bluesky)

MadeWithSvelte: "This starter template by @puddingviz aims to quickly scaffold a SvelteKit project designed around data-driven, visual stories," February 28 (<a href="https://x.com/MadeWithSvelte/status/1895451399615324180/photo/1"><strong>Tweet</strong></a>) — MadeWithSvelte: "This starter template by @puddingviz aims to quickly scaffold a SvelteKit project designed around data-driven, visual stories," February 28 (**Tweet**)

Clara Dealberto: "[...] Les Tenues Des Oscars as Graphiques De L'insee, Version 2025 [...] [<em>The Oscars' Outfits as Insee Graphics, 2025 Version</em>]," March 3 (<a href="https://x.com/claradealberto/status/1896510283444781228"><strong>Tweet</strong></a>) — Clara Dealberto: "[...] Les Tenues Des Oscars as Graphiques De L'insee, Version 2025 [...] [*The Oscars' Outfits as Insee Graphics, 2025 Version*]," March 3 (**Tweet**)

Applications are open for…

A data scientist at Center for Black Digital Research
A ceremony manager for the Information is Beautiful Awards
A climate data visuals editor at CNN Digital

Help us make this dispatch better! We'd love to hear which newsletters, blogs, or social media accounts we need to follow to learn about interesting projects, especially from less-covered parts of the world (Asia, South America, Africa). Write us at hello@datawrapper.de or leave a comment below.

Want the Dispatch in your inbox every Tuesday? Sign up for our Blog Update newsletter!