“The world has seen extraordinary social and economic progress over the past three decades.” This is the opening sentence of the 2025 edition of the World Social Report – the flagship publication of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) on social development issues. Yet, according to the report, economic insecurity, inequalities, declining social trust, and social fragmentation are destabilizing societies worldwide.

Titled, ‘A New Policy Consensus to Accelerate Social Progress,’ the 2025 World Social Report makes the case for a new policy consensus underpinned by three mutually reinforcing principles: equity, economic security for all, and solidarity. These principles, it argues, “are essential to strengthen not only the social, but also the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.”

Citing a recent global poll, a DESA release highlights that today, most people are unhappy with their lives, with 60% of the world’s population reporting to be struggling and 12% – to be suffering. “Many also believe that life is worse now than it was 50 years ago,” the release notes. The 2025 World Social Report’s findings broadly align with these perceptions.

According to the report, rising insecurity and inequalities are eroding trust and social bonds, placing the social contract under threat. It finds that despite unprecedented gains in material well-being, more than a third of the world’s population lives on lives on between USD 2.15 and USD 6.85 a day and is economically insecure.

In addition, the report finds, 65% of the world’s population lives in countries where income inequality is on the rise, leading to exclusion, social division, polarization, and fragmentation. Unless progress accelerates, it warns, “leaving no one behind will remain a distant goal by 2030.”

Insecurity and inequality, in turn, are undermining social cohesion and sowing distrust. The report finds that more than half of the world’s population has little or no trust in their government – a growing trend exacerbated by the rapid spread of disinformation.

To address these challenges, the report calls for a new policy consensus, backed by fundamental shifts in policy, institutions, norms, and mindsets.

“Current institutions and policy frameworks are being outpaced by societal transformations,” said UN Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua. To sustain progress towards the SDGs, he stressed the need to break “the vicious cycle of insecurity, low trust, and shrinking policy space,” urging for a critical evaluation of economic and social policies.

The first to be co-produced with the UN University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), the 2025 report will contribute to the discussions during the Second World Summit for Social Development in November. It is supported by a series of thematic papers providing detailed analysis on the challenges related to poverty, social inclusion, inequality, employment and decent work, and trust and social cohesion.

The report was launched on 24 April 2025. [Publication: World Social Report 2025: A New Policy Consensus to Accelerate Social Progress] [Publication Landing Page] [DESA News Release]