About
Millions, billions, trillions – beyond a certain size, all numbers sound the same. SeeTheScale turns them into pictures you can imagine: How tall would the stack be? How much of the football field would be left? How long would you have to count?
The views
Stack of paper: The small thing is one sheet of paper (0.1 mm). The big thing becomes a stack – growing past houses, towers, mountains and into space.
$100 bills: Amounts of money as scale stacks of 100-unit banknotes in the stated currency, both amounts side by side.
Football field: The big thing is a whole football field, the small thing an area on it. For shares (e.g. “richest 1 %”) the field is split; each figure stands for 1 % of humanity.
Seconds: The small thing is one second. How long would you have to count to reach the big one?
Distance: The small thing is 1 metre. The big thing becomes a line that many times as long – along a road or, from 300 km, as a route across the world map from one city towards another.
Side by side: The things side by side, each with a bubble whose area matches the amount.
Where the data comes from
Every comparison lists its sources – below the graphic under “More about this comparison”. The title of every graphic also shows whether the figures are worldwide or for one country only:
How exact are the numbers?
All values are rounded. It's about orders of magnitude: whether a stack is 480 or 490 km tall doesn't change the message. Some figures are estimates with a wide range (e.g. stars in the universe or tax evasion) – then we name the range in the text and use a middle value. Comparisons always set like against like: wealth with wealth, income with income.
Found a mistake or have an idea for a comparison? Write to us: info@seethescale.com
All comparisons
Wealth
- Wealth: richest person vs. median U.S. family (USA)
- Wealth: richest 1 % vs. the other 99 % of humanity
- Per year: U.S. pet spending vs. modeled investment against hunger (USA)
- Annual income flow: Inditex dividends vs. Bangladesh garment minimum wage
- Wealth in Germany: richest 1 % vs. poorest 50 % (Germany)
- Wealth per adult: Germany vs. world average (Germany, Worldwide)
- 2025: Big Tech's capital spending vs. all development aid
- How high? One million vs. one billion dollars in $100 bills
State & politics
Environment
- CO₂: one private-jet flight vs. annual per-person emissions in Niger
- CO₂ emissions: richest 1 % vs. poorest 50 % of humanity
- CO₂ per person and year: the 5 biggest emitting countries
- Global plastic waste in 2019: recycled vs. not recycled
- Birds killed per year in the USA: wind turbines vs. windows vs. cats (USA)
- Biomass: all ants vs. all wild birds and mammals
- All mammals on Earth by weight: livestock vs. humans vs. wild animals
- Electricity per year: all data centres in the world vs. Germany
- All water on Earth: oceans vs. ice vs. groundwater vs. lakes and rivers
Food & farming
Space
Your own comparisons
Under “Your own” you can enter any two numbers – e.g. your salary and a pro footballer's – and view and share them in every view.