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    Alan Smith

    Head of Visual and Data Journalism

    Alan Smith leads the FT's newsroom team of data reporters and visual journalists. A data visualisation specialist, his TEDx talk Why You Should Love Statistics was featured on TED.com in 2017. Alan is the author of How Charts Work, a handbook on designing with data using the FT's principles.

    Before he joined the FT, he was head of digital content at the UK Office for National Statistics where he was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to official statistics.

    Email Alan Smith @theboysmithy  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

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    • Monday, 27 March, 2023
      War in Ukraine
      Tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in maps

      A visual guide to the war

    • Friday, 24 March, 2023
      Visual and data journalism
      US experiences biggest bank failures since global financial crisis

      Other charts of the week: Global arms exports, Russian forces killed, a more tolerant UK and unregistered deaths

    • Wednesday, 22 March, 2023
      Global inflation
      Global inflation tracker: see how your country compares on rising prices

      Inflationary pressures are beginning to wane

    • Saturday, 11 March, 2023
      Climate change
      Climate scientists tell Britons to brace for frequent wild weather

      UK swings from driest month in 30 years to ice and snow as Met Office points to more extremes

    • Tuesday, 7 March, 2023
      News in-depthEl Salvador
      Inside El Salvador’s mega-prison: the jail giving inmates less space than livestock

      FT analysis finds 40,000 detainees would have just 0.6 sq metres of cell space each in ‘city of crime’

    • Sunday, 26 February, 2023
      Visual and data journalism
      What do Ukrainians think about the international response to Russia’s war?

      Other charts of the week: AI chatbot usage, tourism recovers after Covid, varying retirement ages and the top gaming consoles

    • Thursday, 9 February, 2023
      Turkey-Syria earthquake
      Turkey and Syria’s devastating earthquakes in graphics

      The scale, geology and human impact of the major quakes along the East Anatolian fault

    • Friday, 3 February, 2023
      Data PointsEconomic statistics
      What chimpanzees tell us about how humans see data

      People are routinely more pessimistic in their world view than they would be if they understood the statistics

    • Sunday, 22 January, 2023
      Economic forecasting
      Can you predict the year ahead better than these experts?

      We asked experts in predicting the future to answer questions about how 2023 will play out — and challenge FT readers to beat them

    • Thursday, 19 January, 2023
      Banks
      Global anti-money laundering fines surge 50%

      New data fuels doubts over effectiveness of crackdown on financial crime since 2008 crisis

    • Tuesday, 17 January, 2023
      FT Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign
      Your chance to have lunch with the FT

      Bid by January 29 to join star journalists at top restaurants and support our financial literacy charity

    • Wednesday, 11 January, 2023
      News in-depthUK labour disputes
      Are Britain’s striking public sector workers underpaid?

      FT analysis shows that many key occupations have seen their pay squeezed over the past decade

    • Tuesday, 13 December, 2022
      The Big Read
      The global microchip race: Europe’s bid to catch up

      The region still has hidden strengths in the equipment used in chipmaking but faces a shortage of skilled labour

    • Thursday, 8 December, 2022
      Global inequality
      Big cities drive half of global economic growth

      Data highlight the importance of urban areas, not nations, in driving development

    • Tuesday, 15 November, 2022
      Ageing Populations
      World population reaches 8bn as it grows older

      Number of people aged over 65 expected to hit 1bn by 2030

    • Saturday, 12 November, 2022
      Property sector
      The global housing market is heading for a brutal downturn

      A pandemic-induced property boom peaked at the end of 2021 but the sector is now braced for the broadest slowdown since the financial crash

    • Friday, 11 November, 2022
      Special ReportFT Health: Future of Antibiotics
      Pandemic holds back fight against antibiotic resistance

      Few countries have well funded plans to tackle health threat to millions

    • Wednesday, 9 November, 2022
      Eurozone economy
      Eurozone wage growth accelerating, job ads show

      Median pay 7% higher than a year ago in Germany, according to online tracker

    • Thursday, 6 October, 2022
      Special ReportInvesting in America
      Miami tops FT-Nikkei ranking of best US cities for foreign businesses

      Orlando, New York and Boston round out leading cities in inaugural Investing in America report

    • Wednesday, 21 September, 2022
      ExplainerUK business & economy
      Behind the cost of business crisis hitting UK plc

      Despite the government’s energy package, spiralling costs and falling consumer spending mean the stage is set for recession

    • Wednesday, 7 September, 2022
      ExplainerEnergy crisis
      How do household energy bills compare across Europe?

      UK consumers among hardest hit as governments and EU move to tackle soaring costs of generating power

    • Friday, 26 August, 2022
      Coal
      China coal power generation nears record during heat and drought

      Use of the fossil fuel surges in August to meet electricity gap created by drought in hydropower-producing areas

    • Friday, 12 August, 2022
      News in-depthFootball
      Buzz around Lionesses’ Euro victory drives growth of Women’s Super League

      Tickets sell out in hours but the use of small stadiums continues to hold back the game in England

    • Monday, 11 July, 2022
      Demographics and population
      Global population growth hits lowest rate since 1950

      UN reports overall decline in pandemic-hit Europe and slowdown elsewhere

    • Saturday, 2 July, 2022
      Coal
      Asia-Pacific remains stuck on coal for half its power needs

      Growth in the region fuelled 6 per cent rise in global use of the dirtiest fossil fuel in 2021

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