AN | Hans | Rosling | Narrator. Author of the book. |
| Ola | Rosling | Hans's son. Co-author of the book. |
| Anna R. | Ronnlund | Hans's daughter-in-law. Co-author of the book. |
IN | Bill | Gates | Owner of Microsoft. |
| Melinda | Gates | Bill's wife. |
1 | The | Journalist | he Danish journalist Hans talked to. |
| | | Level 1 - A family who earns $1 a day. |
| | | Level 2 - A family who earns $4 a day. |
| | | Level 3 - A family who earns $16 a day. |
| | | Level 4 - A family who lives a normal life. |
2 | Grandmother | | Hans's grandmother. Lesothian. |
3 | Mino | Rosling | Hans's youngest grandchild. |
| | | Somalian Women - Has the most number of babies. |
| | | Chad Women - Has the most number of babies. |
| | | Mali Women - Has the most number of babies. |
| | | Nigger Women - Has the most number of babies. |
| | | Nile Delta - A mysterious place for children. |
| Aswan | Dam | A place the Egyptians built to eradicate malaria. |
4 | Birgitta | | Head nurse during the war. |
| | | IPPNW - International Physician for Prevention of Nuclear War. |
| Rachel | Carson | Science reporter. |
| | | Silent Spring - A book that becomes a global bestseller. |
| | | Chemo phobia - The fear of chemicals. |
5 | | | Mozambique - The poorest country in the early 80s. |
| Agneta | Rosling | Hans's wife. |
| Ingegerd | Rooth | A missionary nurse in Congo and Tanzania. Hans's mentor. |
| Niem | | Hans's colleague. Local doctor. |
| Mari | Larsson | Woman killed by multiple blows of an axe to the head. |
| Johan | Vesterlund | The first person who was killed by a bear. |
| | | IMF - International monetary fund. |
6 | Thorkild | | Hans's colleague interviewed people in the remote village. |
| Mabrouk | Salhi | A 52-year-old gardener. Father of the Lazy family in Tunis. |
| Jamila | Salhi | Owner of a home-based bakery. Mabrouk's wife. |
7 | | | Balmoura Hotel - A five-star hotel in Edinburgh. |
| Professor | Malek-Afzali | Host in Iran's family planning seminar. |
| Gustav | Rosling | Hans's grandfather. |
| King | Devenampiya Tissa | Created the world's first nature reserve. |
| Nkosazana | Dlamini-Zuma | Chairwoman of the African union. |
| Niherewa | Maselina | Mozambican mining engineer. Hans's african friend. |
8 | | | Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting - A large group of scientists. |
| | | WWF - World wide fund. |
| Hafdan | Mahler | Danish public doctor. |
| Fidel | Castro | President of Cuba. |
| Conchita | Huergo | Member of the Cuban Politro. |