In 2021, the average annual market price of copper peaked at 9,322 U.S. dollars per metric ton, before slightly decreasing in 2022 and 2023, when its average price was 8,478 U.S. dollars. Copper consumption Copper is a base metal that has a wide variety of uses, which makes it an important commodity. Equipment production generally accounts on average for one third of copper consumption, making it the largest global end use of copper. The country with the highest demand for copper as of 2022 was China, with a demand amounting to nearly nine million metric tons of copper. Following China was Europe, with a total demand of just over two million metric tons. Copper market prices The London Metal Exchange and Comex both provide market prices for copper. In 2023, the copper price for the London Metal Exchange was about 390 U.S. cents per pound. The average Comex price in 2022 was estimated to be about 400 U.S. cents per pound.

In 2019, Venezuela’s estimated gross domestic product (GDP) per capita dropped to 2,624.41 U.S. dollars from 3,529.72 U.S. dollars the year before. the country's GDP has been on a continuous downswing for about a decade now - in 2010, it amounted to more than 11,000 U.S. dollars, and seemed to recover from a sudden slump again in 2016, before decreasing rapidly ever since. GDP per capita is a measurement of a country’s economic output that accounts for its number of people, thus making it a good measurement of a country’s standard of living.

A time of economic hardships

Currently, a major economic crisis is shaking Venezuela, resulting in hyperinflation, food and water shortages, and unemployment. Venezuela’s inflation rate has skyrocketed to over 900,000 percent in 2018, and the economy is suffering, with the Venezuelan GDP growth decreasing substantially each year since 2014.

A population affected by instability

In response to the economic and political climate, many are leaving the country for places such as Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, with hopes for more stability and better economic prospects. Due in part to this, Venezuela’s population growth has decreased consistently over the last five years: In 2019, the country’s population was around 28 million inhabitants - a figure that is estimated to decrease further in the future.

The statistic shows the inflation rate in Russia from 1997 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. The inflation rate is calculated using the price increase of a defined product basket. This product basket contains products and services, on which the average consumer spends money throughout the year. They include expenses for groceries, clothes, rent, power, telecommunications, recreational activities and raw materials (e.g. gas, oil), as well as federal fees and taxes. In 2022, the average inflation rate in Russia was at about 13.75 percent compared to the previous year. Russia's economic uplift Based on economic power and economic standards, Russia is recognized as one of the biggest economic powers in the world. With a population of around 143 million people and a re-awakened population growth since 2010, Russia has tried to establish itself as one the world’s largest economies and wealthiest nations and succeeded, being the sixth largest economy in the world today. The gross domestic product (GDP) increase in Russia from 2009 to 2014 is also a good indicator of Russia’s economic growth and strength. After the 1998 Russian financial crisis, several reforms were introduced to the Russian economy which allowed it to recover. Not only did the Russian economy experience a great boost but the quality of life in Russia as well as the people’s satisfaction with the direction of the country has also improved. In comparison to the previous year - with the exception of 2009 -, the Russian real gross domestic product growth rate has increased over the past decade. The trade balance of goods has been experiencing a rapid increase since the beginning of the millennium, with the exceptions of 2007 and 2009 due to the global economic crisis. This allowed Russia to export more goods than it imported. This high trade balance of goods resulted in a low inflation rate in 2012, the lowest recorded inflation rate since 2004.

How many people use X/Twitter?

As of the first quarter of 2019, X/Twitter averaged 330 million monthly active users, a decline from its all-time high of 336 MAU in the first quarter of 2018. As of the first quarter of 2019, the company switched its user reporting metric to monetizable daily active users (mDAU).

X/Twitter

X/Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service, enabling registered users to read and post short messages called tweets. X/Twitter messages are limited to 280 characters and users are also able to upload photos or short videos. Tweets are posted to a publicly available profile or can be sent as direct messages to other users.

Part of the social platform’s appeal is the ability of users to follow any other user with a public profile, enabling users to interact with celebrities who regularly post on the social media site. Currently, the most-followed person on Twitter is singer Katy Perry with more than 107 million followers. Twitter has also become an important communications channel for governments and heads of state – U.S. President Donald Trump was the most-followed world leader on Twitter, followed by Pope Francis and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Despite the widespread usage among the rich and famous, the decline in active users has not been impressing investors as the platform is largely reliant on delivering advertising to users in order to generate revenues. Twitter’s company revenue in 2018 amounted to three billion U.S. dollars, up from 2.44 billion in the preceding fiscal year. Twitter was only recently able to report a positive annual result for the first time, when the company generated 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in net income in 2018.