The latest UK wildlife statistics show a mixed picture. Long-term abundance indices have fallen sharply for farmland birds, woodland butterflies and seabirds, while some groups and species have increased. These figures are indices and percentage changes, not national headcounts, so they describe measured trends rather than the exact number of animals in the UK.
Contents
- Overall UK wild bird trends
- Farmland birds
- Woodland and upland birds
- Water, wetland and seabirds
- UK butterfly statistics
- Wider species abundance in England
- Species distribution in England
Overall UK wild bird trends
The Wild bird populations in the UK and England, 1970 to 2024 statistical release reports an 18% fall in the UK all-bird population index between 1970 and 2024. The England all-bird index fell 19% over the same period. These are smoothed indices for common native breeding birds with sufficient trend data, rather than a census of every bird.
The more recent direction was also downward. From 2019 to 2024, the UK all-bird index fell 4%, while the England index fell 7%. The two geographies should not be treated as interchangeable: the UK figure covers the UK indicator, and the England figure covers its separate England indicator.
| Indicator | Long-term period | Change | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK all-bird index | 1970–2024 | -18% | 130 species |
| England all-bird index | 1970–2024 | -19% | 118 species |
| UK all-bird index | 2019–2024 | -4% | Same UK indicator |
| England all-bird index | 2019–2024 | -7% | Same England indicator |
The species-level assessment adds important context to the overall index. In the UK, 29% of indicator bird species declined between 1970 and 2023, while 28% increased. Over the latest five-year species assessment, covering 2018 to 2023, 42% of indicator bird species were in decline. These percentages describe the direction of species trends, not the size of every population change.
Farmland birds
Farmland birds show one of the strongest long-term declines in the UK statistics. The UK farmland bird index fell 62% between 1970 and 2024. In England, the corresponding index fell 64%. The UK indicator covers 19 species: 12 farmland specialists and 7 generalists.
The distinction between specialists and generalists is substantial. UK farmland specialist bird abundance declined 75% between 1970 and 2024, compared with a 24% decline for farmland generalists. In England, the specialist decline was 78%, while generalist abundance fell 18%.
| Farmland bird group | UK, 1970–2024 | England, 1970–2024 |
|---|---|---|
| All farmland birds | -62% | -64% |
| Farmland specialists | -75% | -78% |
| Farmland generalists | -24% | -18% |
The latest period did not reverse the broad pattern. In the UK, 43% of farmland generalist species declined both over the long term and during the latest five-year period, 2019 to 2024. Among farmland specialists, 75% declined over the long term and 42% declined during that latest five-year period.
There were exceptions within the group. Stock dove numbers increased 18% in the UK between 2019 and 2024. That short-term increase sits alongside the wider farmland indicator and does not cancel out the long-term declines recorded for the farmland group.
Woodland and upland birds
The UK woodland bird index declined 32% from 1970 to 2024, while the England woodland bird index declined 36%. The UK woodland indicator covers 37 species, including 25 specialists and 12 generalists.
Recent figures for England show a 6% decline in woodland bird abundance over the five years from 2019 to 2024. Individual species again moved in different directions. Long-tailed tit abundance increased 91% in the UK between 1970 and 2024, whereas bullfinch abundance declined 53% over the same period.
Upland-specialist birds are measured over a shorter long-term window beginning in 1994. The UK upland-specialist bird index declined 21% between 1994 and 2024. England’s upland-specialist abundance declined 38% over that period and fell a further 20% over the five years from 2019 to 2024. Whinchat abundance declined 60% in the UK between 1994 and 2024.
These periods matter when comparing the figures. The woodland index begins in 1970, while the upland-specialist index begins in 1994; the percentages therefore describe different spans of time.
Water, wetland and seabirds
The UK water and wetland bird index declined 10% between 1975 and 2024. England’s index declined 11% over the same period. The UK water and wetland indicator covers 26 species, including 4 fast-flowing-water species, 4 reedbed species, 6 slow-or-standing-water species and 8 wet-grassland species.
The latest five-year figure for UK water and wetland bird abundance was a 4% decline from 2019 to 2024. Habitat groups varied considerably over the longer period. UK reedbed bird abundance increased 40% between 1975 and 2024, while wet-meadow and wet-grassland bird abundance declined 49%. Reed bunting abundance declined 70% over the long term to 2024.
One notable increase was recorded for Cetti’s warbler: its abundance increased by more than 10-fold in the UK from 1988 to 2024. This is a multiplicative change rather than a precise percentage in the supplied statistic, so it should not be converted into an unsupported exact figure.
Seabirds show a separate long-term decline. UK seabird abundance fell 37% between 1986 and 2024, and UK surface-feeding seabird abundance fell 39% over the same period. The seabird figures use a 1986–2024 period, unlike the water and wetland index, which begins in 1975.
UK butterfly statistics
The Butterfly populations in the UK and in England release reports an 18% decline in the UK all-species butterfly abundance index between 1976 and 2025. England’s all-species index declined 19% over the same period.
Butterfly figures are monitored-site indices for resident species with sufficient data. They are not national headcounts. Habitat labels describe the habitats where butterflies were recorded, so a farmland or woodland statistic should be read as a trend for butterflies associated with those recorded habitats.
Habitat specialists declined more than the all-species index over the long term. UK habitat-specialist butterfly abundance fell 37% between 1976 and 2025, compared with a 24% decline for England habitat specialists.
Farmland butterflies declined 32% in the UK between 1990 and 2025 and 31% in England. UK farmland specialist butterfly abundance declined 41% over that period. Woodland butterflies recorded an even larger fall: UK woodland butterfly abundance declined 57% between 1990 and 2025, while woodland specialist abundance declined 60%.
The woodland specialist trend also fell in the shorter period from 2015 to 2025, declining 30%. Because the long-term and short-term butterfly periods are different, they show separate parts of the trend and should not be combined as though they were one measurement.
Wider species abundance in England
Bird and butterfly indicators cover particular groups. England’s wider biodiversity indicators provide a broader view, although both the abundance and distribution indicators are official statistics in development.
The Status of all-species: relative abundance indicator includes data for 1,176 species or taxa. England’s all-species relative-abundance index was 67% of its 1970 value in 2023. In other words, the index’s 2023 level was below its 1970 reference value; it is an index position, not an estimate of the number of animals present.
At species level, 39% of species in England showed a strong or weak relative-abundance decline between 1970 and 2023. A further 33% showed a strong or weak relative-abundance increase. The remainder are not represented here as either of those two reported directions.
Species distribution in England
The Status of all-species: distribution indicator covers 5,440 species with robust occupancy time series. Occupancy describes distribution across sites or areas, so this measure is different from abundance: a species can occupy more or fewer places without the index directly stating how many individuals live there.
England’s all-species distribution index reached 127% of its 1970 value in 2024. The recent direction was lower: between 2019 and 2024, the index fell 3%, from 130% to 127% of the 1970 reference value.
Over the full 1970–2024 period, 28% of species showed a strong or weak distribution increase in England. This distribution result should be kept separate from the 67% relative-abundance index for 2023. They measure different ecological dimensions, use different coverage and end in different years.