CC BY license
A copyright license that lets anyone reuse data, as long as the original source is credited.
In short
CC BY is one of several Creative Commons licenses. The "BY" means attribution is the only real condition: use it, adapt it, share it, even commercially, as long as you say where it came from.
How it works
A few versions of CC BY exist. This site's main dataset, UN World Population Prospects, uses CC BY 3.0 IGO: a version written for intergovernmental organisations, like the UN, that publish open data.
Note Not every Creative Commons license allows commercial use or adaptation. CC BY does; variants such as CC BY-NC or CC BY-ND add restrictions this site doesn't rely on.
What it allows, and the one requirement
Why it matters here
Every dataset behind this site is named directly in the inspector's "Where the data comes from" panel, and the exact license for the main source is listed on the About page. Attribution isn't an afterthought here; it travels with the data.
The practical effect of CC BY is that this site can exist at all. Gapminder v7, UN WPP, and HYDE 3.3 are all open-licensed datasets. Without that openness, building a free public tool on top of them would require negotiating separate agreements with three different organisations — or relying only on data you collected yourself.
Frequently asked questions
What does CC BY mean?
CC BY stands for Creative Commons Attribution. It is the most permissive of the Creative Commons licenses. Anyone can use, adapt, and share the work for any purpose — including commercially — as long as they credit the original creator or source. The "BY" in the name refers to that attribution requirement. The full legal text is on the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 deed.
What is the difference between CC BY and CC BY-NC or CC BY-ND?
CC BY-NC adds a non-commercial restriction: you cannot use the work for commercial purposes. CC BY-ND adds a no-derivatives restriction: you cannot modify or build upon the work. CC BY has neither restriction — it is the most open license Creative Commons offers. This site relies only on CC BY and CC BY IGO datasets.
What is CC BY 3.0 IGO?
CC BY 3.0 IGO is a variant of the CC BY license written specifically for intergovernmental organisations such as the United Nations. The "IGO" designation means the license terms are adapted to the legal context of international organisations. In practice it works the same as CC BY: use, adapt and share freely as long as you cite the source. The full text is on the Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 IGO page.
How should I credit data licensed under CC BY?
Name the creator, the title of the work, the license, and ideally a link to the source. For UN World Population Prospects, the standard citation is: "United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, Online Edition." The source and license must be clearly visible. The UN WPP website provides citation guidance and data downloads directly.