Following an unprecedentedly high civilian death toll in 2024, conflict-related civilian deaths fell by 23 per cent in 2025, from 48,011 to 37,163 – ending three consecutive years of increases. Yet civilian deaths remain well above post-2015 levels among those killed, one in five were children and one in four were female, with Gaza alone accounting for 70 per cent of all child deaths and 60 per cent of female deaths recorded in conflicts globally.

Northern Africa and Western Asia accounted for 65 per cent of all civilian deaths, followed by sub-Saharan Africa at 24 per cent. While recorded deaths declined in more than half of the armed conflicts covered, the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo saw dramatic rises. Where data is available, heavy weapons and explosive munitions were the leading cause of death at 41 per cent, followed by small arms and light weapons at 20 per cent.

Beyond the immediate toll, high-intensity conflicts continue to drive forced displacement, which reached 117 million people in June 2025. Ending armed conflict, strengthening institutions and upholding international humanitarian and human rights law remain essential to better protecting civilians and reducing humanitarian needs.

Bribery continues to be a global challenge, with the heaviest burden falling on people in lower-income regions. Across 139 countries with recent data, roughly 17 per cent of people reported that, in the past year, they had either paid a bribe to a public official or been asked to do so when in contact with an official. But the burden is far from evenly shared: in highincome countries, that figure was 9 per cent, compared with 27 per cent in low-income countries. Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia recorded the highest median bribery rates, at 24 and 22.5 per cent respectively, compared with 9 per cent in Europe and Northern America.

Country experiences within regions vary considerably; in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the range spans from 5 to 80 per cent. This variation suggests that income level is not the sole determinant of corruption risks.

These figures are based on direct experience rather than perceptions of corruption, making them a more reliable guide for targeted anti-corruption policies. They do not, however, capture grand corruption involving political and business elites.

Globally, political leaders skew older and more male than the populations they serve, with consequences for which issues receive attention and whose perspectives shape policy. Though 64 per cent of the world’s population is 40 or younger, and roughly half are female, in 2025, 77 per cent of speakers in parliament and 63 per cent of committee chairs were men over the age of 40.

There is little sign of a change to the status quo. In 2025, the percentage of parliament members aged 30 or younger (2.8 per cent) and 40 or younger (19 per cent) were unchanged since 2023, and well below the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s targets of 15 and 35 per cent, respectively, while the share of women in both age groups declined. Young people and women in parliament also exert less authority than their older, male counterparts. Young members of parliament chair only 4–7 per cent of influential committees on finance, defence and foreign affairs, and just 18 per cent of youth policy committees. The share of women speakers, meanwhile, dropped 3.8 percentage points between 2024 and 2025, declining to 19.9 per cent. Women also accounted for only 16 per cent of new speaker appointments, and while they gained ground in leading foreign affairs, defence and finance committees, their leadership remains concentrated in social policy areas.

The gender divide extends beyond parliament. Women’s representation relative to their working-age population was at 0.80 in public service and 0.88 in the judiciary, and in both sectors was concentrated in lower-level positions with limited access to senior leadership and the highest courts. The gap is starkest in low-income countries, where women’s representation ratio falls to 0.36 in public service and 0.42 in the judiciary.

As climate change, conflict, economic insecurity and technological disruption disproportionately affect women and young people, their underrepresentation in decision-making means the policies that shape their lives are largely being made without them. Stronger measures – including leadership quotas, lower candidacy ages and greater support for women and young people in decision-making roles – are needed to build institutions that reflect and respond to the people they serve.