The world’s bees are declining: what that means for humanity

World Bee Day, observed annually on 20 May, raises the plight of the humble bee and other pollinators, spotlighting their impact on humanity.

Publication of recent statistics paints a grim picture of the health of the world’s 20 000 bee species, and how their demise is affecting global food security and the economy.

According to the World Health Organisation, nearly 90% of the world’s flowering plant species depend entirely, or at least in part, on animal pollination, as does more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land.

As recorded by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the world’s pollinators have declined by 25% since 1987.

According to an article published on Earth.org in March, farmlands across the world have become more and more dangerous to bees over the last 50 years, with insecticides and machinery impacting them negatively.

The total loss of bees would disrupt the world’s food production for both humans and livestock and, while certain man-made interventions could pollinate plants, these labour-intensive, expensive practices would affect food security by pushing up the price of food.

Hand pollination and drone pollination simply cannot be done on the same scale or at the same speed as bees.

The alarm is already sounding in California, where beekeepers reported between June 2024 and February 2025 an average loss of 60% – a shortage of up to 500 000 hives – that were crucial in almond pollination.

Bees also contribute massively to the world’s economy, with some US$577bn of global food production dependent on bees.

The honey industry alone was valued at US$8.5bn in 2022.

The message is clear: ignore bees at humanity’s peril.

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