Post-war Hungary holds the record for hyperinflation: in July 1946, prices there were doubling roughly every 15 hours, according to economist Steve Hanke's research. The country even issued a 100 quintillion pengő note, a 1 followed by 20 zeros. Economists call it hyperinflation when prices rise more than 50% a month; Zimbabwe and Venezuela have had more recent episodes.
That's the estimate from a WHO-led study published in The Lancet in 2024, covering the half-century since the Expanded Programme on Immunization was launched in 1974. It works out to about six lives saved every minute, mostly infants. The measles vaccine alone accounts for around 60% of those lives.
According to the World Gold Council, about 216,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in all of human history. Because gold is so dense (19.3 tonnes per cubic metre), it would fit in a cube about 22 metres on each side, roughly the height of a seven-storey building. Strikingly, about two-thirds of it has been mined since 1950.