The UN report says the world has seen extraordinary social and economic progress over the past three decades.
WORLD SOCIAL REPORT 2025: A New Policy Consensus to Accelerate Social Progress notes that unprecedented gains in reducing extreme poverty and improvements in material well-being have demonstrated the transformative potential of collective action.
However, societies across the world are facing deep challenges. Inequalities remain stubbornly high; many people struggle to earn adequate incomes in precarious jobs, and insecurity is on the rise. Frustration with the status quo is fueling distrust and straining the very foundations of global solidarity, according to the report.
This report reflects on the social achievements and lessons of the past and presents a way forward to deliver on the commitments made in the Copenhagen Declaration and Program of Action, adopted in 1995, and accelerate the implementation of the broader set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The evidence presented underscores the need for urgent action: the risks of allowing the vicious cycle of economic insecurity, inequality, and declining trust to persist are too high. The risks of allowing the vicious cycle of economic insecurity, inequality, and declining trust to persist are too high.
The World Social Report 2025 makes the case for a new policy consensus based on three principles – equity, economic security for all, and solidarity. These mutually reinforcing principles are essential to strengthen not only the social, but also the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The objectives of such consensus are set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Renewed momentum and agreement are now needed to translate this collective vision of sustainable development into action.
According to a recent evaluation of life satisfaction, 60 percent of people worldwide are struggling and 12 percent are suffering. Recent crises, growing threats from climate change, and escalating conflicts serve as a reminder that many people are one misfortune away from falling into poverty, even in countries that have succeeded in reducing it. The urgency of preventing falls into poverty, which is difficult to escape, cannot be overstated. Over 690 million people live in extreme poverty, under US$2.15 a day. Over 2.8 billion, more than a third of the world’s population, live on between US$2.15 and US$6.85 a day. Even a small shock can send people into extreme poverty, and any escapes from poverty are often temporary. The recent crises and growing threats from climate change and conflict make the universal need to strengthen resilience even more pressing. Nearly one in five people are at high risk from climate-related disasters worldwide (World Bank, 2024). One in seven people was exposed to conflict in 2024, with the number of state-based conflicts having doubled since 2010 (Rustad, 2024). Both climate shocks and conflicts exacerbate poverty and hinder efforts to alleviate it.
The World Social Report is the flagship publication on major social development issues of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) of the United Nations Secretariat. The 2025 report was prepared by the Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) in DESA and the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER).
