What a 12 months 2022 has been. There was so … a lot … information. We noticed record-high inflation, struggle in Ukraine, a landmark Supreme Courtroom session, persevering with results of the pandemic, the Winter Olympics, the dying of Queen Elizabeth II, the World Cup and, after all, the midterms. In typical FiveThirtyEight style, we’ve been reflecting on 2022 the way in which we do finest: by means of numbers. Right here, seven of our reporters share a few of the most vital stats of the 12 months, highlighting large political selections, emotions of the citizens and hints at what’s to return in 2023.

Poverty

In September, the U.S. Census Bureau launched its annual supplemental poverty fee for the earlier 12 months. That’s the poverty fee after accounting for the impression of key authorities applications focused at low-income households, amongst different issues. For reporter and editor Santul Nerkar, the defining variety of the 12 months was 7.8 %, the supplemental poverty fee for 2021 and lowest fee on document. It was the primary concrete measure of how COVID-19 stimulus cash affected poverty in America.

US poverty fee hit a document low — however don’t anticipate it to remain that approach

Abortion

In June, the Supreme Courtroom launched its determination in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Well being Group, overturning Roe v. Wade because the legislation of the land. In brief order, many states enacted abortion bans, together with whole bans with out exceptions for rape or incest. For senior author Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, the defining variety of the 12 months was 10,000 — that’s what number of fewer authorized abortions there have been in simply the primary two months after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

The quantity that captures the impression of the Dobbs determination | FiveThirtyEight

Ceaselessly chemical substances

Per- and polyfluorinated chemical substances, or PFAS, are utilized in all types of family merchandise, from nonstick pans to dental floss. These pervasive chemical substances are harmful to human well being, and the federal government and trade are lastly beginning to crack down on them. That brings us to senior science reporter Maggie Koerth’s numbers of the 12 months: 4, the variety of PFAS the Environmental Safety Company launched new tips for, and 4,700, the tough variety of completely different PFAS chemical substances on the market.

The EPA is lastly addressing 4 harmful ‘eternally chemical substances’ — out of over 4,000

Election deniers

Denying the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election was the cornerstone of many Republican campaigns this election cycle. Election denial is hardly a brand new factor, but it surely reached unprecedented ranges within the 2022 midterms. That’s why 47 is the defining variety of the 12 months for politics and tech reporter Kaleigh Rogers. It’s the proportion of Republican candidates who ran for Home, Senate, governor, secretary of state and lawyer basic this 12 months and didn’t settle for the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

Variety of election-denying Republicans outlined the 2022 midterms | FiveThirtyEight

Inflation

Heading into the midterm elections, People instructed pollsters that one subject was their prime precedence: the financial system and inflation. For senior author Monica Potts, the 9.1 % inflation fee in June topped her listing of most vital stats of the 12 months. Right here she explores the methods — large and small — that historic ranges of inflation affected American lives in 2022.

How inflation’s 41-year excessive impacted American life | FiveThirtyEight

The Republican margin within the Home

The outcomes of the 2022 election have been worse for Republicans than one would possibly anticipate, on condition that the president’s occasion often loses floor within the midterms. Within the U.S. Home, Republicans gained a majority however solely a slim one. They received by solely 9 seats, which for editor Maya Sweedler is among the most vital numbers of the 12 months. What Republicans will — and received’t — be capable of do with that majority will outline American politics for no less than the following two years.

The quantity that can form Republicans’ politics in 2023 | FiveThirtyEight

Democratic trifectas

With Congress divided between Democrats and Republicans after the 2022 midterms, a few of the most vital political shifts of the following few years may very well be coming on the state degree. These new insurance policies would possibly lean liberal as a result of, for the primary time in 12 years, extra People will reside in states completely managed by Democrats than by Republicans. That’s why senior elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich picked 140 million as his defining stat of the 12 months. It’s the variety of People who will quickly be dwelling in a state the place Democrats could have whole management over state authorities.

140 million People will reside in states managed by Democrats | FiveThirtyEight

Thanks for watching, studying and listening to FiveThirtyEight this 12 months. We’ll see you in 2023!