Overview
Central to the achievement of the Agenda for Sustainable Development is an adequate, equitably distributed and fully supported health workforce. Nurses are the largest occupational group and represent an indispensable force with which to combat inequities in access to health services and progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while advancing gender equality through the strengthening and empowerment of a highly feminized profession.
The 2025 edition of the State of the world’s nursing provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the nursing workforce. The report features new indicators on critical areas for nursing, such as education capacity, advanced practice nursing and remuneration. In addition to the 12 policy priorities from the Global strategic directions for nursing and midwifery 2021–2025, there are five additional policy priorities and a compilation of data from each WHO region. Country profiles reflect each country’s national data and are available for download from the WHO National Health Workforce Accounts data portal.
With 5 years left of the SDG era and rising geopolitical tensions, economic retrenchment and concurrent protracted crises, we are at a strategic juncture. We can continue down the path of stagnated progress on universal health coverage and slower progress in reducing the health worker shortage. Or we can seize the opportunity this report presents to drive country-level investments and actions in support of nurses providing essential life-saving services in stronger health systems.
We call on policy-makers in countries, nursing associations, regulators, development partners, partner organizations and other stakeholders to utilize this report for policy dialogue and decision-making on how and where to strengthen nursing to achieve universal health coverage and the other health-related SDGs. These next 5 years are our final opportunity to do so.
