Number of countries that offer citizenship in return for an investment commitment : 23

Factor by which the average fee charged by migrant smugglers has increased since January : 3

Percentage of global refugees who are hosted by developing nations : 86

Number of refugees in Germany who are seeking work : 322,000

Who have been hired by one of Germany’s thirty largest companies : 54

Number of passports lost by revelers at Munich’s Oktoberfest celebration last year : 600

Of wedding rings : 2

Percentage of the American beer market controlled by Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller : 70

Date on which the U.S. Justice Department approved a $100 billion merger between the two : 7/20/2016

Number of banks subjected to stress tests mandated by the Dodd–Frank Act this year : 33

Number that passed : 31

Percentage of U.S. jobs created since the recession that have gone to workers with postsecondary education : 99

Percentage of U.S. retirees who are funding their retirement with cash savings : 56

Of French retirees : 17

Factor by which the U.S. budget for military bands exceeds the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts : 3

Length in days of a pilot program to determine whether U.S. Army soldiers should be permitted to roll up their sleeves : 10

Number of states that automatically remove voters from the rolls if they do not vote for a period of time : 7

Estimated number of Islamic community centers and mosques operating as polling places in the 2016 U.S. election : 2,400

Number that have been removed as polling places due to complaints : 1

Percentage of Italians who wanted a referendum on leaving the European Union two months before the Brexit vote : 58

Who did five days after the Brexit vote : 20

Number of children that British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has knocked to the ground during athletic matches : 2

Minimum amount embezzled from U.S. youth sports leagues last year : $1,710,881

Percentage by which the value of checks distributing state oil wealth to Alaska residents decreased this year : 50

Percentage by which the global price for uranium has fallen since the Fukushima disaster : 62

Number of nuclear reactors built in the United States over the past 20 years : 1

Number of square miles by which the hole in the ozone layer has grown smaller since 2000 : 1,500,000

Portion of U.S. drivers trading in hybrid or electric cars this year who opted to replace them with gas vehicles : 2/3

Percentage by which a driver from the Northeast is more likely to make angry gestures at other drivers : 27

Portion of U.S. ambulance services that are privately operated : 1/4

Percentage by which the average response time of privately run ambulances exceeds that of publicly run ambulances : 55

Chance that a Virginian driver has had his or her license suspended for not paying court fines and fees : 1 in 6

Percentage of U.S. police departments that use or plan to use body cameras : 95

Percentage of Americans who believe police body cameras will do more to protect police officers than civilians : 44

Who believe they will do more to protect civilians : 29

Minimum number of countries that have issued travel advisories for the United States this year : 3

Number of states that allow the open carrying of assault rifles without a permit : 40

Number of states in which bestiality is legal : 9

Portion of Americans who would choose to live in the United States if given the option of any country in the world : 4/5

Figures cited are the latest available as of August 2016.

“Harper’s Index” is a registered trademark.

October Index Sources

1 International Monetary Fund (Washington)
2 Europol (The Hague)
3 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Washington)
4 German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Berlin)
5 International Organization for Migration (Berlin)
6,7 Munich Police Department
8,9 U.S. Department of Justice
10,11 U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors
12 Anthony Carnevale, Georgetown University (Washington)
13,14 HSBC (N.Y.C.)
15 U.S. Department of Defense
16 U.S. Army (Arlington, Va.)
17 ACLU of Ohio (Cleveland)
18,19 American Muslim Democratic Caucus of Florida (Pembroke Pines)
20,21 Ipsos MORI (London)
22 Mayor of London
23 Center for Fraud Prevention (Blue Bell, Pa.)
24 Office of the Governor of Alaska (Anchorage)
25 Ux Consulting (Roswell, Ga.)
26 Tennessee Valley Authority (Knoxville, Tenn.)
27 National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder, Colo.)
28 Edmunds.com (Santa Monica, Calif.)
29 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (Washington)
30,31 National EMS Information System (Salt Lake City)
32 Legal Aid Justice Center (Charlottesville, Va.)
33 Major Cities Chiefs Association (Salt Lake City)
34,35 Rasmussen Reports (Asbury Park, N.J.)
36 Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (Washington)/Embassy of Bahrain (Washington)/Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration of the Bahamas (Nassau)
37 Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (San Francisco)
38 Humane Society of the United States (Washington)
39 Rasmussen Reports.