The past year has been a tumultuous one for the sector with unprecedented funding cuts impacting the scale and scope of humanitarian operations. The consequences for humanitarian data were unclear but the analysis in The State of Open Humanitarian Data 2026 report shows that short-term mitigation measures and rapid reprioritization resulted in only a marginal decrease in data availability across crises.

Our insights into data availability and use come from managing the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX), an open platform for finding and sharing data across crises and organizations. Based on analysis of the HDX Data Grids, we estimate that 68 percent of crisis data is available and up-to-date across 22 humanitarian operations, down from 74 percent in the previous year. 

The report provides details on the data available for each location, category and sub-category covered in the Data Grids. The 22 Data Grids include 411 unique datasets, which were downloaded almost four times more than the average dataset on HDX. 

In addition, the report explores changes in data availability, reflected both in the Data Grids and in conversations with data partners throughout the year. This qualitative analysis has allowed us to capture changes that would otherwise be hard to quantify. In addition, we explain the impact of AI bots on web traffic and Open Data platforms with the aggressive roll out of Large Language Models. Finally, we take a closer look at the organizations that contribute climate hazards data on HDX, which is essential for getting ahead of crises. 

Through the UN80 Initiative and the Humanitarian Reset, there is an opportunity to consolidate and refocus data efforts. Data has a central role to play in a revitalized humanitarian system – one that delivers more effectively and builds trust in multilateral action. It is a core asset that should be managed, with appropriate safeguards, as a public good in service of saving lives.

The HDX platform will continue to support the humanitarian data ecosystem, making critical data easy to find and use for the analysis that informs decision making in humanitarian operations. We recognize the valuable and long-standing contributions of data-sharing organizations and welcome new actors to join the platform. 

Visit the Overview of Data Grids page on HDX for the latest status on data availability across humanitarian operations throughout the year. Please be in touch with questions or comments at centrehumdata@un.org.