9 Reasons The World Is Better Than Ever, According To Bill And Melinda Gates

The Microsoft founder and his wife argued against downbeat conventional wisdom in the Gates Foundation's annual letter, published Tuesday morning. They made the case to BuzzFeed in GIF form.

1. There are half as many poor people in the world as there were in 1990.

2. The average life span for women in sub-Saharan Africa has increased by 16 years since 1960.

3. Seven of the world's top ten fastest-growing economies are in Africa.

4. The percentage of children in Africa who are in school has almost doubled since 1970.

5. Because of how many countries have graduated from needing foreign aid, less than 1% of the American budget goes to aid.

In a survey, Americans indicated that they think 25% of the budget goes to foreign aid, and that 10% of the budget should. In reality, less than 1% of the American budget goes to foreign aid.

In fact:

6. In places where child mortality rates are high (the chance of a child dying before the age of 5), women tend to have more children.

But mortality rates are dropping in most countries, so the number of children had per family is dropping as well.

Additionally, women with no schooling had three more children on average than women who attended high school.

The cumulative effect of these changes is a slow-down in population growth worldwide, which dispels the myth that improving health care leads to overpopulation.

7. Since 1960, China’s real income per person has gone up eightfold, India’s has quadrupled, and Brazil’s has almost quintupled.

8. A baby born in 1960 had a 20% chance of dying before her 5th birthday. For a child born today, it’s under 5%.

In 2035, it will be 1.6%.

9. Since the global population is growing more slowly every year:

"There are more children on the planet now than there will ever be."