Understanding the 2026 Living Planet Index: Clarifying Wildlife Population Trends

• The 2026 Living Planet Index (LPI) reports an average decline of 73% in studied wildlife populations between 1970 and 2022.
• This figure represents a geometric mean of population change rates across 35,803 populations, not a loss of 73% of total individual animals, species, or biodiversity.
• Exactly 50% of the studied populations are in decline, while 43% are increasing and 7% are stable.

Understanding the Metric

• The LPI is often misinterpreted in media reports. It does not measure:
  • The absolute number of species lost.
  • Total animal or population counts.
  • The percentage of all species currently in decline.
  • Total extinction rates.
• The index aggregates data from thousands of populations; since data availability for 1970 is limited, trends are calculated based on available time-series data using a geometric mean of rates of change.

Shifts in Data Coverage

• The reported decline has remained at 73% in the 2024 and 2026 reports. This does not indicate stability in the intervening years, but rather reflects updates to the underlying dataset.
• The project has expanded its scope:
  • Total populations studied increased by 1,000 (3%) and species by 300 (5%).
  • There was a significant focus on improving data representation from Africa, where population coverage increased by 14% and species coverage by 38%.
• Historical LPI trend lines shift in each report as new data is added and methodologies—such as the inclusion or exclusion of non-native species—are refined.

Implications for Conservation

• Because half of the studied populations are not declining, the 73% average figure should not be interpreted as a uniform crisis across all wildlife.
• Differentiating between declining, stable, and increasing populations allows for more effective resource allocation, enabling conservation efforts to target species and areas in genuine, urgent need.