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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchNo single reading can show whether the Baltic Sea is healthy. The strongest assessment combines indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem components with measures of pressures—especially eutrophication and hazardous substances—then compares each result with its HELCOM threshold and sub-basin context. HELCOM’s latest completed holistic assessment, published in 2023, covers 2016–2021, not conditions in 2026.
Which indicators belong in a useful assessment?
Use a portfolio that shows both ecological condition and the pressures that can change it. A nutrient measurement alone, for example, cannot reveal the full ecological response; a biodiversity measure alone may not explain which pressures are affecting the system.
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- Biodiversity and ecosystem components: assess relevant habitats and ecological groups to understand ecosystem status.
- Eutrophication: pair nutrient conditions with biological responses, water clarity and oxygen conditions.
- Hazardous substances: measure contaminants in suitable materials, such as biota and sediments, and assess them against regional thresholds.
- Other relevant pressures: where the question and available data support them, include marine litter, underwater noise, non-indigenous species, climate, land use and resource extraction.
HELCOM’s assessment framework connects ecosystem status, pressures and human well-being. National monitoring and regional data feed indicator evaluations, which in turn inform thematic assessments and the overall synthesis. This layered approach helps show not only what condition the sea is in, but also which pressures may be contributing to it. HELCOM’s assessment methodology describes the framework.
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Biodiversity and ecosystem components
Status measures for habitats and ecological groups show ecological condition directly. They are most useful when interpreted alongside pressure indicators: changes in organisms or habitats can signal ecological effects, while pressure measures help identify potential causes. The relevant components and coverage depend on the assessment question and the regional data available.
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Eutrophication
Eutrophication indicators should capture both nutrient conditions and the chain of ecological responses. HELCOM describes symptoms that can include increased chlorophyll and opportunistic algae, reduced water clarity, more organic matter settling on the seabed, oxygen consumption and possible oxygen depletion, and changes in species composition. No one item in that chain captures the whole problem. HELCOM’s eutrophication assessment found that it remained a major problem in 2016–2021, with no clear signs of recovery.
Hazardous substances
Contaminant indicators need to match the substance and the environmental material being assessed; examples include measurements in biota and sediments. In HOLAS 3, PBDEs in biota, TBT in sediments, mercury in biota and copper in sediments were among the main contributors to integrated contamination status. HELCOM also cautions that monitoring covers only a small fraction of potentially hazardous substances, so a result for measured contaminants is not a complete inventory of chemical risk. HELCOM’s hazardous-substances assessment gives the relevant regional findings.
Other pressures and drivers
Pollution, litter, underwater noise, non-indigenous species, climate, land use and resource extraction can also matter. Their distribution and importance vary across space and time, so they should be included when they are relevant to the ecological question and supported by assessment data—not treated as a fixed, identical checklist for every sub-basin.
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HELCOM reported 59 indicators in its 2023 set: 42 core, 11 pre-core, one supplementary and four driver indicators. The categories reflect their roles in the framework; the count does not mean that all indicators apply uniformly to every place or ecological question. HELCOM’s indicator portal provides the indicator set and evaluations.
For any comparison, check the following before reading a result as good or poor:
- Ecological and policy relevance: what condition or pressure does the indicator represent?
- Measurement basis: what monitoring data support it, and what is not measured?
- Spatial coverage: which sub-basin or assessment unit does it describe?
- Time period: which years are represented, and is the result a completed assessment or a current measurement?
- Threshold: what reference value is used, and does it vary by subregion?
- Uncertainty and coverage gaps: what limitations affect interpretation?
Thresholds are indicator-specific: they can be maximums, minimums or ranges, and may vary among subregions within an indicator. Technical and policy experts review and update the indicator set. A result without its threshold, location and assessment period can therefore be misleading.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the latest completed assessment say?
HELCOM’s third holistic assessment, HOLAS 3, covers 2016–2021 and was published in 2023. Its executive summary states: “Little to no improvement of the Baltic Sea environment occurred during the assessment period.” The assessment identifies climate change impacts and biodiversity degradation alongside eutrophication, pollution, land use and resource extraction. These are findings about the stated assessment period, not real-time measurements. HELCOM’s State of the Baltic Sea 2023 overview describes the assessment and its scope.
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For hazardous substances specifically, HELCOM reported bad or poor status in roughly 80% of 57 assessed spatial units; only one open-sea assessment unit had good status. These figures describe the assessed units in the integrated HOLAS 3 assessment. They are not a share of the Baltic Sea’s total area or a statement about every potentially hazardous substance.
HELCOM lists HOLAS 4 as covering 2022–2027, with results expected in 2029. Until that assessment is complete, HOLAS 3 remains the latest completed holistic assessment in HELCOM’s official overview.
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