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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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  • Friday, 31 March, 2023
    Global inflation
    Global inflation tracker: see how your country compares on rising prices

    Inflationary pressures are beginning to wane

  • Thursday, 30 March, 2023
    War in Ukraine
    Tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in maps

    A visual guide to the war

  • Wednesday, 29 March, 2023
    Spanish politics
    Spain’s fix for pension shortfall: make younger people pay

    Faced with an ageing population and ballooning costs, Madrid has opted to raise contributions rather than cut benefits

  • Tuesday, 28 March, 2023
    The Big Read
    China’s fake science industry: how ‘paper mills’ threaten progress

    The country has become a prolific producer of academic research but fraudulent studies risk serious real-world consequences

  • 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

  • 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

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