The power of a good chart or map lies in its ability to inform the debates and decisions that lie ahead. Here are 10 graphics published by the Financial Times in 2019 where the real story is often about what happens next — in the years, decades and centuries to follow.

Boris Johnson’s victory in the UK’s December general election, driven by his promise to “get Brexit done”, means that the premise of this graphic from earlier in the year — a “hard Brexit” —  remains a strong possibility as we enter 2020. The estimated per capita income losses shown on the map illustrate cartographer Waldo Tobler’s first law of geography: “Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.” Most economists predict a hard Brexit will hit the UK hardest, with neighbour Ireland a close second — but the ripple is  predicted to extend across Europe. 

Not all countries have made progress in their efforts to reach vaccination targets. Countries affected by war or civil unrest, such as Syria and South Sudan, have seen a big decline in measles vaccination rates in the past decade. In the US, where there is a prominent “anti-vax” movement, levels remain stubbornly below the 95 per cent threshold needed to prevent wider outbreaks. Meanwhile,  new research suggests that the disease has a much more serious effect on children’s immune systems than previously thought.