As the world marked International Nurses Day on May 12, 2025, the World Health Organization released its long-awaited “State of the World’s Nursing 2025” report—a sobering yet vital assessment of the global nursing workforce at a time when healthcare systems remain under pressure from a variety of crises. The report, an update to the landmark 2020 edition, paints a complex picture of progress, persistent gaps, and pressing future needs.
Five years after the world rallied behind healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the nursing profession is still grappling with many of the same systemic challenges. From shortages and burnout to uneven distribution and underinvestment, nurses continue to shoulder the burden of care across hospitals, clinics, and community health systems—often without the support they need. The WHO’s latest findings bring statistical weight and policy recommendations to a global conversation that’s only growing more urgent.
According to the report, the world currently faces a shortfall of over six million nurses. Although some progress has been made in training and recruitment since 2020, that gain has been offset by high attrition rates, aging workforces, and migration trends that leave many low- and middle-income countries critically understaffed. The imbalance is stark: regions with the greatest disease burden, such as sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, have some of the lowest nurse-to-patient ratios. Meanwhile, richer nations increasingly rely on international recruitment to fill domestic gaps, exacerbating global inequities.
The 2025 report breaks down data by region and country, offering fresh insights into education systems, employment patterns, working conditions, and regulatory frameworks. It also provides updated projections for 2030, warning that if current trends persist, global health goals—including universal health coverage—may be at risk. The WHO underscores the need for countries to develop self-sufficient health workforces, with a particular focus on domestic training programs, retention strategies, and career pathways for nurses.
Among the most concerning findings is the continued lack of investment in nursing education. Many countries still fall short of the recommended level of nursing graduates needed to sustain and grow the profession. Even in places where training capacity exists, the quality of education often varies, with outdated curricula and insufficient clinical experience. This has raised alarms about both the quantity and quality of the future nursing workforce.
The report also highlights the gendered nature of nursing and the disparities that persist within the profession. Despite women making up over 90% of nurses globally, they are underrepresented in leadership and decision-making roles. Nurses, especially women in low-income settings, also face significant wage gaps compared to other healthcare professionals and are more vulnerable to workplace violence, discrimination, and unsafe working conditions.
One of the new features of the 2025 report is the inclusion of national digital profiles that allow policymakers and researchers to explore nursing data specific to their countries. This innovation aims to support evidence-based decision-making at the local level and enable governments to benchmark their progress against global standards. The profiles include information on workforce numbers, training institutions, nurse distribution across public and private sectors, and migration inflows and outflows.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his statement accompanying the report, emphasized that nurses are the “foundation of primary healthcare and the first line of defense in any health emergency.” He called on governments to treat nursing as a long-term strategic investment, not a short-term expense. “Nurses are not just caregivers—they are educators, advocates, and often the glue that holds our health systems together. Supporting them is essential to building resilient and equitable health systems.”
The report’s timing is significant, coming just weeks ahead of the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly in Geneva. Member states are expected to discuss the extension of the Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery through 2030, aligning it with the Sustainable Development Goals. The WHO hopes the new data will prompt countries to scale up their commitments and integrate nursing more deeply into national health strategies. Ultimately, the message from the State of the World’s Nursing 2025 is clear: the world cannot afford to neglect its nurses. As aging populations, chronic diseases, pandemics, and climate-related health issues demand more from health systems, the need for a well-supported, well-trained nursing workforce has never been more urgent. While the data is sobering, the report also offers a roadmap for change—one that, if followed, could reshape global health for the better and restore dignity and sustainability to a profession that has too often been taken for granted.
