2024: A year in charts, graphs & data visualization

The Week in Charts series showcases charts that help explain a rapidly changing world—as we strive for sustainable, inclusive growth. This year, we’ve curated 12 compelling data visualizations that capture insights on the transformative power of digital and AI, resilience in the face of uncertainty, the evolving landscape of talent trends, the intersection of equity and health, and more.

Gaining an edge with AI and digital

Investment in AI and digital technologies reflected organizations’ commitment, despite economic headwinds, to advance innovation and build new businesses—and helped some to outperform peers.

Investing in digital and AI tools is a must for many industries. Although some leaders may be on the fence about the business case for incorporating digital and AI capabilities, organizations that have tackled these tech opportunities outperform their peers financially in sectors such as retail, energy, and insurance. Those who have done so in the consumer-packaged-goods industry, for example, have a threefold lead in total shareholder returns over peers that haven’t embraced the technology. Digital and AI leaders prioritize digital integration into business processes and customer journeys, and then use the data and ROI metrics to find new sources of value.

Companies leading in digital and AI outperform financially.

In the global software sector in particular, generative AI (gen AI) could spark almost $300 billion in new software spending over the next few years. But based on a McKinsey survey of software executives, it is anticipated that gen AI will affect each software category to a different degree. Content creation is one of three areas expected to see a very high level of disruption, while system infrastructure is on the other end of that spectrum. The ultimate result for the industry as a whole could be a reimagining of software categories from how we think of them today.

Generative AI will disrupt the vast majority of the software market, but its relative impacts will differ across a wide range of industry categories.

Planning for tight talent markets

Global economies are grappling with shifts in labor force participation. To shape a resilient future, leaders must look to reskilling and upskilling talent and consider new policies to address employee needs.

A nearly universal challenge this year was the tight labor market. Labor force participation is expected to slow or decline by the end of this decade in advanced economies. McKinsey research suggests the labor figures aren’t a pandemic-induced anomaly but rather a sign of a longer-term trend that could be exacerbated by aging workforces. Even among countries that could experience labor supply growth—Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States—those increases will likely be smaller than in the past. And if labor participation stays at current rates in Germany, Italy, and Japan, their labor forces won’t increase. To address these projected shortfalls, labor market stakeholders may need to improve their value proposition for prospective talent, look beyond traditional talent pools, and invest in technology that supplements current roles.

Labor supply growth is expected to slow or reverse, even if participation rates rise in line with past friends.

There’s also a looming talent crisis in healthcare—another critical sector in economies with aging populations. This is evidenced by nurses’ intent to leave, which remains high, but there are ways to turn that around. For example, currently or previously retired nurses could be a crucial cohort to attract back to the bedside, given their experience and ability to help train early-tenure nurses. In a McKinsey survey, 34 percent of currently retired or previously retired nurses say they would consider clinical-care roles if they could also serve as educators, while 31 percent flagged mentoring as an important reason. Organizations that address nurses’ needs and preferences can help mitigate departures and create more rewarding experiences.

Currently or previously retired nurses report they would consider returning to the bedside if they could set their schedule or educate or mentor nurses.

Fostering a resilient future

Demand for talent was just one of many strains across regions and sectors this year, as geopolitical tumult and economic uncertainty also featured prominently. But organizations found ways to maneuver and position themselves to thrive.

Ongoing geopolitical issues are contributing to a reconfiguration of global trade that could follow one of two scenarios. In one, heightened trade frictions between geopolitically misaligned economies would cause trade to reorient and flow to those in greater geopolitical agreement. In another scenario, import concentration in trade relationships would reduce, meaning no economy would be overly dependent on another for its imports. The outcome from either scenario has potential drawbacks—increased trade concentration could lower geopolitical risks, but it could also reduce economic growth, while diversification could increase geopolitical misalignment between economies.

GDP in many countries could get a boost from micro-, small, and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs), especially in emerging economies. But getting there requires MSMEs to improve their productivity—on average, these businesses provide less than half the productivity of large companies. If MSMEs were as productive as large businesses, it could represent value equivalent to 5 percent of GDP in advanced economies and 10 percent in emerging economies. MSME performance varies widely, however, within countries and sectors, so policy makers and business leaders must use tailored strategies to capture value.

Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises play varying roles in economies.

Finding a path to sustainability

It’s an uphill climb to reach global net-zero emissions. Navigating a path toward success involves greater innovation, investment, and coordination among global stakeholders.

Net-zero climate goals are increasingly out of reach. No current climate policy scenarios can achieve net-zero carbon emissions by the end of the century—much less by 2050. McKinsey research shows that none of 23 policy scenarios we examined are on track to meet global emissions goals. More than 8,000 companies and countries—representing 90 percent of global GDP—have made net-zero pledges, and annual global investment in climate transition technologies grew from $660 billion in 2015 to $1 trillion in 2023. But progress has been hampered by the complexity of modifying global energy systems and materials and the substantial cost projections. To meet the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, total annual capital spent on low-emissions technologies alone would need to increase from about $1.5 trillion now to an average of $7.0 trillion over the next three decades.

A wide range of scenarios shows that if the world stays on its current trajectory, net zero will not arrive during this century.

The consumer industry aims to increase its use of recycled plastic; the most ambitious retailers are planning to include 50 percent recycled plastic in their products by 2030. But the supply of recycled material is not on track to keep up with the industry’s goals. Postconsumer recycled plastic supply is expected to double by 2030—but demand is expected to increase threefold in that period. Strategic partnerships or new ownership models could help companies secure scarce supply without paying a premium.

The demand for recycled plastics is expected to far outpace the available supply by 2030.

Pursuing parity

Improving economic mobility, diversifying workforces, harnessing technology to close racial divides: these and other equity goals still matter to global stakeholders, but progress has stalled on efforts that could meaningfully improve lives and livelihoods.

Without substantial progress toward improving outcomes for Black Americans, it could take more than 300 years for them to achieve parity with White Americans, based on current rates of change. Even the best cases would take more than a century. To make meaningful progress and prevent disparities from lingering into future generations, stakeholders in public and private sectors will have to engage on solutions such as affordable housing and early childhood education.

Unless progress accelerates, it could take community profiles between 110 to 320 years to eliminate gaps in outcomes for Black and White US residents.

Equity gaps for women are not getting better. Women continue to confront microaggressions in the workplace as often today as several years ago. Women, especially LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities, remain more likely than men to experience microaggressions at work. Women who experience microaggressions are more likely to feel burned out and to consider quitting their jobs. They’re also less likely than others to view their workplaces as equitable. Companies making the biggest strides in advancing women are applying more of the practices that make the workplace more equitable. In short, companies need to do more.

Despite efforts, competence-based microaggressions have persisted from 2018 to 2024.

Prioritizing inclusive health

Better quality of life is possible at a global scale. But getting there requires public and private sector leaders to identify gaps in care and coordinate on initiatives with measurable outcomes.

Closing the health gap between women and men could increase global GDP by $1 trillion. Women’s health covers a spectrum of health experiences that uniquely, differently, or disproportionately affect women, compared with men. Women’s varied health experiences results in them having more health problems, despite living longer. Addressing the disparities could enhance the quality of life for women across their lifespan and improve future generations’ health and wealth.

The total potential GDP impact of closing the women's health gap in all countries is $1.0 trillion.

Reducing health inequities among all people who live in cities across the world could unlock 20 billion to 25 billion additional years of higher-quality life. That’s roughly five years per person living in an urban area if interventions are effectively deployed. There are four categories of interventions: healthy longevity, brain health, climate-related health, and healthy-worker capacity interventions. The number of people living in cities is expected to increase to 70 percent of the global population by 2050, which makes enhancing health interventions key to improving lives and livelihoods.