Monitored wildlife populations have declined by an average of 73% over five decades, according to a major global assessment that warns governments must accelerate efforts to reverse biodiversity loss ahead of a U.N. summit in Armenia.
WWF's Living Planet Report 2026 draws on 35,803 population trends covering 5,790 vertebrate species between 1970 and 2022. Freshwater wildlife populations experienced the steepest average decline, at 85%, followed by terrestrial populations at 69% and marine populations at 59%.
