diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 60ffca13..1cf66730 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -5,6 +5,17 @@
 - Included CSV versions of all SDTM data under `inst/extdata` for ease of use of non R programmers. (#221)
 - Added a new vignette "Datasets Preview" to preview all datasets included in the package. (#146)
 
+## Various
+
+<details>
+
+<summary>Developer Notes</summary>
+
+- Added the `Downloads` Badge. (#229)
+
+</details>
+
+
 # pharmaversesdtm 1.4.0
 
 ## New Features
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ff777597..9d1f4887 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 # pharmaversesdtm <img src="man/figures/logo.png" align="right" width="200" style="margin-left:50px;" alt="pharmaverse sdtm hex"/>
 
-> <sup>Interactive data exploration: <a href="https://pharmaverse.github.io/pharmaversesdtm/articles/preview-sdtm.html">Preview SDTM vignette</a></sup>
-
-<!-- badges: start -->
+<!-- start badges -->
 
 [![pharmaverse sdtm Badge](http://pharmaverse.org/shields/pharmaversesdtm.svg)](https://pharmaverse.org)
 [![CRAN status](https://www.r-pkg.org/badges/version/pharmaversesdtm)](https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=pharmaversesdtm)
+[![Total Downloads](http://cranlogs.r-pkg.org/badges/grand-total/pharmaversesdtm?color=green)](https://cran.r-project.org/package=pharmaversesdtm)
 
-<!-- badges: end -->
+<!-- end badges -->
+
+> <sup>Interactive data exploration: <a href="https://pharmaverse.github.io/pharmaversesdtm/articles/preview-sdtm.html">Preview SDTM vignette</a></sup>
 
 Test data (SDTM) for the pharmaverse family of packages