States of Fragility 2025

States of Fragility 2025 marks 25 years of the OECD’s work on fragility, a period during which it has constantly sought to challenge thinking and practice for effective humanitarian, development and peace, policy and implementation. This report continues in that vein. The evidence and analysis presented in this edition provide insights for donors and partner countries to tailor their approaches to addressing fragility in a changing world. Acknowledging the broad spectrum of issues, this report refines its focus on the development and peace pillars of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, to focus on relationships and connections that have been frequently overlooked in recent discourse and analysis. Development co-operation, while not designed to necessarily deliver transformational change, can act as catalyst to drive development, prevent conflict and build better futures.

The OECD first produced a Fragile States publication in 2005. Applying a state-centric approach, its concept of fragility focused on identifying fragile states. With the introduction of the multidimensional fragility framework in 2016, the focus of subsequent editions changed to consider fragile contexts – states, systems and communities – across five dimensions of fragility. In 2022, a sixth, human dimension was added to strengthen analysis on education, health and social protection. Now, States of Fragility 2025 has taken this evolution further, moving away from what many consider a politically insensitive and binary label to acknowledge the universality of fragility which exists on a spectrum and can impact on the ability of all contexts to pursue their development goals.

Recognising that other organisations apply fragility frameworks to determine financing priorities and monitor policy implementation, the OECD’s work on fragility is intended as a universal knowledge offer to build awareness and facilitate dialogue. Balancing a global perspective on fragility with a focus on the contexts most exposed to fragility, the report responds to concerns about the implications of fragility for stability and development, especially in the context of the 2030 Agenda and the international promise to leave no one behind. The OECD is one of only a handful of sources of aggregate data and analysis for contexts exposed to high levels of fragility.

The purpose of the States of Fragility report series is to provide compelling evidence, analysis and perspectives that inform development partners’ policies and underpin international debates. States of Fragility 2025 is supported by an online platform and complementary publications produced by the Crises, Conflict and Fragility team of the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD) and supported by the International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF). Together, they provide the substantive content underpinning the findings set forth in this report. This approach is tailored to meet the needs of political decision makers, policy makers and practitioners to 1) monitor levels and compositions of resource flows to contexts exposed to fragility, 2) understand qualitative trends related to these flows and 3) offer an outlook on the key issues and contexts to watch in the coming years.

This report is organised into four chapters. Chapter 1 analyses global trends through a multidimensional fragility lens. Chapter 2 identifies the contexts experiencing the highest fragility based on the most recently available data, considers their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and highlights the most prominent themes requiring attention. Chapter 3 provides a comprehensive overview of the responses to fragility, including trends in both official development assistance and other financial resources as well as in policies to address the drivers of multidimensional fragility. Chapter 4 presents an in-depth assessment of perspectives on fragility by people living in and from the most exposed contexts.

The most recent data captured by the OECD fragility framework predominantly date from 2023 and therefore the findings do not reflect the impact of recent events in the Middle East and elsewhere. However, more recent data are referenced when available to add detail and context to the analysis provided.

This latest edition of the report provides a platform for political and community leaders, experts, advocates and activists from a variety of contexts, including OECD member states, to share their experience on the realities of living with and responding to fragility (Chapter 4). These contributions provide grounding and hope in equal measure, demonstrating that even where the challenges are greatest, people are working to find better solutions with and without the support of humanitarian, development and peace actors. Together, they highlight the need for new thinking on peace and development co-operation, where potential partners abound but where accommodating the motivations of donors and partners can yield drastically different outcomes for people, states and the planet. Chapter 4 should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed therein are those of the respective authors.