Data last updated: December 2025
The UK Biodiversity Indicators give a snapshot of the current status of biodiversity in the UK and how it’s changing.
As an accredited official statistics compendium, their development and production is underpinned by the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
The indicator suite is updated on an annual basis with the latest release being published on 2 December 2025. This includes the addition of several new indicators designed to demonstrate progress against the goals and targets agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
This webpage contains information on contact details, the background and development of the UK and England Biodiversity Indicators, and further information on official statistics. Webpages for each individual indicator and an overview of the latest results are available in the menu of pages in this section.
Contact details
Responsible Statistician: Clare Betts
Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at:
or by post to:
Environmental Statistics and Reporting team
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Seacole Building
2 Marsham St
London
SW1P 4DF
Introduction
Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth. It includes all species, such as animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms, and the natural systems that support them. Biodiversity matters because it supports the vital benefits we get from the natural environment. It contributes to our economy, our health and wellbeing, and it enriches our lives.
The UK and England Biodiversity Indicators give a snapshot of the current status of biodiversity in the UK and England and track trends over time, showing whether aspects of biodiversity are improving, declining, or remaining stable. The two suites are closely related and produced by the same team of government statisticians at the same time. The latest results of the UK Biodiversity Indicators are available in the menu. Results from previous updates have been retained for information on The National Archives.
The Biodiversity Indicators are dependent on a wide variety of data, provided by government, research bodies, and the voluntary sector. As Official Statistics, the presentation of, and method by which an assessment of change is made, for each of the indicators has been verified by the data providers, and the production and editing of the indicators has been overseen by government statisticians in Defra.
The UK and England Biodiversity Indicators are accredited official statistics compendiums (previously known as National Statistics). These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics set out by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. The accreditation does not mean that all the individual statistics presented are accredited official statistics in their own right. It means that the compendium has been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority as compliant with the Code of Practice.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
See Official statistics for further details.
Use of indicators in international reporting
The UK biodiversity indicators are used in reporting the UK’s progress against goals and targets agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The indicators were previously used as a principal source of evidence in relation to the Aichi Targets for the UK’s 6th national report to CBD in 2019. Since then the indicator suite has been updated to reflect more recent commitments. In 2022 the UK signed up to the CBD’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, consisting of a set of global goals and targets, indicators to measure progress against these, and a monitoring framework. The key elements of this are 4 goals to be achieved by 2050 and 23 targets to be achieved by 2030. All Parties to the CBD will be expected to report on their progress towards these goals and targets in the 2026 and 2029 national reports.
In the 2025 publication, the suite of UK Biodiversity Indicators has been revised and updated to increase alignment with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The revised set of UKBIs is based on the recommendations from the review and guidance published on indicator methodologies for GBF reporting, with advice on indicator development also provided by the Biodiversity Indicators Steering Group. Some UKBIs will be used for UK national reports to CBD.
Use of indicators in domestic reporting
A variety of indicators across the UK countries are used for domestic reporting. In some cases, these relate closely to particular UK Biodiversity Indicators.
The England Biodiversity Indicators (EBI) were previously used to assess progress with delivery of Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services.
The development of Environment Act targets and associated indicators began in 2021 and were laid in parliament in December 2022. Later, the Environmental Improvement Plan, which lays out the governments plan for improving the state of the environment, was published. The England Biodiversity Indicators are continually adapted to better align with the EIP. Some of the England Biodiversity indicators feed into the Outcome Indicator Framework, a set of indicators describing environmental change related to the ten goals within the 25 year Environment Plan. As part of the Outcome Indicator Framework, this data contributes towards the evidence base used to prepare the annual progress report for the Environmental Improvement Plan.
Official statistics
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You can read about how Official Statistics in Defra comply with these standards on the Defra Statistics website.
The UK and England Biodiversity Indicators are accredited official statistics compendiums. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. The accreditation does not mean that all the individual statistics presented are accredited official statistics in their own right. It means that the compendium has been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority as compliant with the Code of Practice.
These statistics were independently reviewed by the OSR in February 2012. See Assessment Report 173 Statistics on Sustainability and the Environment in England and the UK. Since this review by the OSR, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics.
The following individual statistics presented in the publication are accredited official statistics, previously known as National Statistics:
- Birds of the wider countryside and at sea - Assessed February 2012, with an additional compliance check in August 2024
- Percentage of woodland certified as sustainably managed – Assessed March 2012
- Insects of the wider countryside (butterflies) - Assessed August 2024
Although all other statistics in this compendium are not individually accredited official statistics, they are official statistics or official statistics in development, and as such have been produced in line with the Code of Practice. They are subject to rigorous quality assurance by the data providers and general quality assurance by Defra and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
The presentation of the statistics, the commentary, and the assessments have been overseen and quality assured by Defra Statisticians.
Official statistics in development
Official statistics in development (previously termed ‘Experimental statistics’) are a subset of newly developed or innovative official statistics undergoing evaluation. They are developed under the guidance of the Head of Profession for Statistics and are published in order to involve users and stakeholders in the assessment of their suitability and quality at an early stage. Further information can be found in the Guide to official statistics in development.
If you have feedback on any of the official statistics in development in this publication, please email us at biodiversity@defra.gov.uk
The “in development” label is used for statistics which are undergoing development, or are new and not yet fully developed. We aim to always have a time-bound development plan, which includes a period of collecting feedback from users, for finalising the indicator and removing the “in development” label. There are several reasons for publishing official statistics as “in development”:
- some new statistics may have considerable immediate value to users, when users are aware of the statistics’ quality and limitations they may be able to make qualified use of them before operational testing has been completed.
- where statistics remain subject to testing of quality, volatility and ability to meet user needs
- where new methods are being tested and are still subject to modification or further evaluation
- where there is only partial coverage (for example, of subgroups or regions), and further work is needed before full coverage can be published
When we introduce new indicators into our publications as official statistics in development, we do this in full compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. This means we will clearly explain what the statistics are and how they might be useful, explain their limitations, how they might be developed and reviewed, as well as seeking and acting on feedback from users.
The ‘official statistic in development’ label is temporary. We will decide when it is appropriate to remove the label from one of our indicators, usually this will be when no further methodological development is needed and the indicator is judged to be of high quality and useful for users. Before making the final decision, we will consult with all parties involved in the production of the specific indicator (for example, key stakeholders and data providers) and put forward a recommendation to Defra’s Head of Profession for Statistics.
We have the option to withdraw a set of statistics in development from one of our publications if they do not meet users’ needs or are otherwise not fit for purpose. If statistics are to be withdrawn, this decision will be made in conjunction with the Defra Head of Profession for Statistics.
The guidance on changing or ceasing to publish official statistics provides further details.
User engagement statement
In line with Defra’s User Engagement for Statistics Policy Statement and the Code of Practice for Statistics, we are committed to ensuring that our statistics are of value and meet user needs and welcome any feedback or suggestions regarding this publication.
To provide feedback, you can email us at: biodiversity@defra.gov.uk
You can also register as a user of the biodiversity and wildlife statistics publications. Registering as a user means we will be able to contact you regarding any user engagement activities that we may run, such as seeking feedback on proposed changes.
Alternatively, you can engage with us via the StatsUserNetwork forum Environment, Climate and Nature group. The StatsUserNetwork is a forum for users and producers of statistics to share knowledge, ask questions, and discuss all things data.
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