Report shows that global peacekeeping personnel in 2025 will be half of what it was a decade ago.
A report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on the 25th shows that the total number of personnel participating in global peacekeeping operations will be less than 79,000 by 2025, which is only about half of that in 2016, with insufficient funding being one of the main reasons for the significant reduction in peacekeeping personnel.
The report states that by December 2025, the number of personnel involved in global peacekeeping missions will drop to 78,633, a decrease of 17% compared to the previous year and a 49% reduction compared to 2016. In 2025, there will be a total of 58 peacekeeping missions operating in 34 countries and regions, with three fewer missions than the previous year.
The director of the institute's peacekeeping and conflict management program, Jair van der Linde, said, “If this trend continues, we will see a serious weakening of multilateral conflict management (models) and international organizations like the United Nations being almost completely marginalized due to funding, geopolitical factors, and more,” adding that the consequences could be “a greater number of conflicts globally, which may have more severe impacts on the population.”
The report points out that one of the main reasons for the reduction in global peacekeeping personnel is insufficient funding. The United Nations is the primary organizer of multilateral peacekeeping operations, and the peacekeeping budget approved by the UN General Assembly for the 2025-2026 fiscal year is $5.38 billion, the lowest amount in at least a decade. In this fiscal year, the United States was supposed to contribute $1.3 billion. However, the U.S. informed the UN that it only intends to pay $682 million.
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, warned in October 2025 that “the failure of some member states to pay their dues in full” has led to cuts in the peacekeeping budget, necessitating a reduction in the size of peacekeeping missions.
Global peacekeeping personnel are projected to decline to 78,633 by December 2025, a 49% decrease from 2016 levels, primarily due to funding shortages. The United Nations, which oversees these operations, faces a budget of $5.38 billion for 2025-2026, the lowest in ten years. The U.S. has indicated it will only contribute $682 million of the expected $1.3 billion, exacerbating the funding crisis.
- Global peacekeeping personnel expected to drop to 78,633 by December 2025.
- This number is a 49% decrease from 2016 levels.
- Funding shortages are a primary reason for the reduction.
- The UN's peacekeeping budget for 2025-2026 is the lowest in a decade at $5.38 billion.
- The U.S. plans to pay only $682 million of its expected $1.3 billion contribution.