Misc
Mapped: Top Trending Searches of 2021 in Every U.S. State
The Trending Searches in 2021
Googleโs data editor Simon Rogers once said, โYouโre never as honest as you are with your search engine. You get a sense of what people genuinely care about and genuinely want to know.โ
This look at trending searches for every U.S. state is a window into the topics people were truly curious about in 2021. From political tensions to meme stocks, and from Elon Musk to a devastating tornado, we saw a wide range of trending searches throughout the year.
In the above animated video, Reddit user u/V1Analytics pulls together the top trending search terms from Google’s 2021 Year in Search summary (for the period before mid-November 2021) and Google’s Daily Search Trends page (from mid-November to December 20th) to illustrate the daily trends for each state.
It’s fascinating to see what Americans were looking up this year.
Trending Searches Offer a Glimpse of American Psyche
In the year when COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, many Americans turned to the world’s most popular search engine to figure out how to come back to a life of normalcy.
In 2021, the search entries spoke to peopleโs interest in alternative assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs, as well as persistent economic insecurity, evidenced by questions about when they would get their stimulus checks.
Entertainers and billionaires trended throughout the year, and so did topics of significant cultural impact at those moments in time.
Here is a look at the trending searches of 2021 and when they were searched most:
Topic | Trending Months | Category |
---|---|---|
Biden | January | Political Figure |
Capitol | January | Monuments |
Mega Millions | January | Culture |
GME | January | Gaming |
Dogecoin | January, April, May | Cryptocurrency |
The Weeknd | February | Entertainment |
Valheim | February | Gaming |
Power Outage | June, July, August | Society |
Stimulus Check | March | Society |
Lil Nas X | March | Entertainment |
DMX | April | Entertainment |
Prince Philip | April | Famous Personalities |
Jake Paul | April, August | Content Creator |
AMC Stock | May, June, August | Entertainment |
Jeff Bezos | July | Businessman |
Simone Biles | July | Athlete |
Afghanistan | August, September | Country |
Hurricane Ida | August | Climate Change |
Gabby Petito | September | Crime |
Squid Game | October | TV Shows |
Alec Baldwin | October | Actor |
Travis Scott | November | Entertainment |
Kyle Rittenhouse | November | Crime |
Adele | November | Entertainment |
Tornado | December | Climate Change |
Elon Musk | December | Businessman |
Notable Trending Searches in 2021
Hereโs a look at a few of the notable searches that trended across the U.S. in 2021:
President Biden and Capitol
Unsurprisingly, the year started with news of the presidential election and the U.S. Capitol riot, asย President Biden was set to take office.
In six states, however, the top trending search was still related to the Mega Millions jackpot, even as individuals stormed the Capitol Building.
Valheim
One of the most sought-after games of the year, Valheim, came on the market in February, 2021. By August, it had garnered over 8 million users. The developing company’s new Hearth and Home patch has skyrocketed the game’s appeal even more.
Stimulus Check
In March, the U.S. government unveiled their plan to distribute the third stimulus check to Americans.
People started looking for more information about when they would be getting their checks and if there had been any changes in the amount they would receive.
Dogecoin
Created in 2013 as a parody of Bitcoin, Dogecoin saw record trading levels in May 2021. This was in part due to Elon Musk supporting the cryptocurrency.
The Dogecoin market capitalization surged to a peak of $88 billion, worth more than three-quarters of the companies in the S&P 500.
AMC Stock
After suffering significant losses due to the pandemic-related shuttering of theaters across the country, AMC Entertainment became a fan favorite of Reddit-based retail traders who drove the share price up beyond what most analysts considered reasonable.
AMC’s stock price rose by 95% in a couple of days, reaching a record high of $63 per share. This was the latest phase of the meme stock frenzy.
Afghanistan
President Biden decided to completely withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11th, 2021, ending the longest war the country has ever fought.
As an immediate consequence of the withdrawal, the Taliban militia took over the country and the government. The event, which was broadcast in near real-time, caused widespread panic among the citizens as some attempted to flee the country.
What’s in Store for 2022
Itโs going to be everyoneโs best guess as to what the trending searches for 2022 will be. Based on the events that dominated the news throughout the year, a few predictions could be made.
Experts predict that we will be moving to an endemic stage of the pandemic, which is bound to profoundly impact how we live in 2022.
New trends, movies, TV shows, and even newer gadgets will surely catch everyoneโs attention next year. It will be fascinating to see what’s on the minds of people in the coming 12 months.
Agriculture
Visualizing the World’s Flower Bouquet Export Market
This graphic highlights global flower bouquet sales in 2021 and how a few countries dominate the entire flower export market.

Visualizing the World’s Flower Bouquet Export Market
For many, flower bouquets are the go-to gift choice when congratulating a colleague, visiting an ailing relative, or simply showing love and kindness to partners and friends.
And the global popularity of these carefully-arranged and vividly-colored bundles has led to the creation of a billion-dollar flower bouquet market. And demand for beautiful bouquets has kept growing, with global flower bouquet exports in 2021 reaching $11 billionโwhich is a 30.2% rise since 2017.
Louis Lugas Wicaksono uses data from Worldโs Top Exports to highlight the spread of this industry. In this image, he shows the flower bouquet exports across different countries in 2021.
Countries Trading the Most Flower Bouquets
Far at the top of the list and best known for their tulips, the Netherlands dominated the flower bouquet export industry in 2021.
Rank | Country | Continent | Flower Bouquet Exports (2021 USD) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | Europe | $5.7B |
2 | ๐จ๐ด Colombia | America | $1.7B |
3 | ๐ช๐จ Ecuador | America | $927.3M |
4 | ๐ฐ๐ช Kenya | Africa | $725.5M |
5 | ๐ช๐น Ethiopia | Africa | $254.5M |
6 | ๐ง๐ช Belgium | Europe | $150.0M |
7 | ๐ฎ๐น Italy | Europe | $140.9M |
8 | ๐จ๐ณ China | Asia | $124.6M |
9 | ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia | Asia | $90.5M |
10 | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | America | $82.0M |
11 | ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | Asia | $77.5M |
12 | ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | Africa | $70.4M |
13 | ๐ช๐ธ Spain | Europe | $69.6M |
14 | ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | Europe | $65.8M |
15 | ๐น๐ท Turkey | Asia | $59.4M |
๐ Rest of the world | $735.2M |
The small European nation exported $5.7 billion worth of bouquets in 2021, accounting for over half of global flower bouquet trade. This dominance comes from centuries of being the world’s largest producer of flowers and being a floral trade hub due to its advantageous location and connections with other growers, suppliers, and wholesalers.
Colombia and Ecuador fall next on this list with their exports totaling $1.7 billion and $927 million, respectively. Roses, carnations, and chrysanthemums are heavily exported from these South American nations.
On the other side of the Atlantic, cut rose flower exports were the leading drivers for Kenya and Ethiopia, earning these African nations $725 million and $254 million respectively.
Together, these five nations contributed to 85% of the worldโs flower bouquet trade in 2021.
Post-Pandemic Strategies
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the flower bouquet export industry remained resilient. However, this was not an easy feat.
Many florists embraced new strategies like online sales and free home deliveries, and exporters dealt with global shipping slowdowns. Some countries including Columbia and Kenya focused on producing flowers with longer shelf lives that could be shipped further away.
As we continue to drift away from the pandemic and global trade eases up, we can expect this industry to blossom further.
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