Global Animal Welfare Progress: Trends and Indicators

Tracking global animal welfare progress requires robust indicators across multiple dimensions, from legislative advances to industry commitments and scientific understanding of animal sentience.

Key Facts

Over 170 countries now have some form of animal welfare legislation, compared to fewer than 50 in 1990
Corporate welfare commitments covering billions of farm animals have been made by major food companies
Scientific recognition of animal sentience has expanded from mammals and birds to fish, crustaceans, and some invertebrates
The global farmed animal population has grown faster than welfare improvements, meaning aggregate welfare may have declined
Consumer awareness surveys show increasing concern for animal welfare across all major markets

Welfare Considerations

Measuring global animal welfare progress is genuinely difficult because gains in some areas are offset by growth in others. Legislative progress has been real, but enforcement remains uneven. Corporate commitments have produced measurable welfare improvements for some animals while others remain unprotected. The expansion of the scientific consensus on animal sentience is one of the most important welfare developments of the past two decades, providing the philosophical foundation for stronger protections. True progress requires both expanding protections and reducing the total number of animals in welfare-compromised conditions.

What You Can Do

Support animal welfare organizations that measure and report on global welfare progress with rigorous methodology
Engage with policy processes at local, national, and international levels where welfare standards are set
Use your consumer choices to support producers operating at the welfare frontier in each animal category
Stay informed about emerging science on animal sentience and advocate for policy to keep pace with evidence