2025 Year in Review
By: Mark McCrindle
As futurists we often look to the future and assess trends to determine what might be ahead.
While the future is what we look to, we also need to look back and see the events that have preceded us. In this article we provide a year in review and look at the key trends and events that impacted 2025.
Key Trends and Events of 2025
Welcoming Generation Beta: January 1, 2025, marked the birth of Generation Beta (those born 2025–2039).
The Return of Trump: The inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20 set the tone for a year of tariffs and volatility. The “America First” approach rippled through global markets, accelerating the trend toward economic fragmentation, tariffs and the U.S government shutdown.
Hollywood had a mixed year for movies, but in global news the Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2” shattered records, grossing nearly $2 billion globally, signaling a shift in the center of gravity for cinema. Meanwhile, “A Minecraft Movie” became a nearly billion dollar hit driven by Gen Alpha fans and their craze for Chicken Jocky.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement with a wedding expected in 2026. Jeff Besos also got married to media personality Lauren Sánchez in Italy.
Rage Bait and Parasocial Voted Words of The Year
The Oxford word of the year being ‘rage bait’ is defined as “Online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account.”
Capturing a key feature of social media platforms that amplify not which is correct or true, but that which gets engagement and increases time on device, rage baiting has become a strategy for content creators to create engagement and provoke conversations.
The Cambridge Dictionary named ‘parasocial’ their word of the year. Defined as “Involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence”. Again amplified by social media, streaming and now AI platforms, people can have a sense of connection to celebrities or influencers they know only through a screen.
Other words considered include aura farming, biohack, tariff and AI slop.
Colour of The Year
Pantone’s Colour of the Year 2025 was Mocha Mousse “Capturing a Global Mood of Connection, Comfort, and Harmony”. The color expresses a level of indulgence but has a nod of humility in its grounded and foundational nature.
“For Pantone Color of the Year 2025, we look to a mellow brown hue whose inherent richness and sensorial and comforting warmth extends further into our desire for comfort, and the indulgence of simple pleasures that we can gift and share with others.” – Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute
In our research on the megatrends shaping the consumer landscape, we wrote that even during economic strain, consumption decisions are intertwined with identity. People try to navigate financial challenges with dignity and style. Prioritising small luxuries during these times can often provide comfort, when other aspirations feel out of reach. Customers are stuck between valuing affordability due to their circumstances and splurging on what makes them feel good.
Generation Beta started Being Born
This year was particularly special as we welcomed Generation Beta. Coming after Gen Z and Gen Alpha, Generation Beta is defined as those born between 2025 and 2039. By 2035 they will make up 16% of the global population, they will be the children of younger Gen Ys (millennials) and older Gen Zs and many will live to see the 22nd century.
We’ve seen the impact of AI on adults over the past few years, for Generation Beta they will be immersed in it from birth. If the trend of digital payments and currency continue they’re likely to be the last generation to touch physical money, and may even live in a world where the majority of cars are self driving. For more on Generation Beta download the infographic.
TIME Person Of The Year
The TIME magazine announced “The architects of AI” as the person of the year. The acceleration of AI and it’s growing investment made it’s mark on 2025 with ongoing competition from companies creating the frontier models, along with companies like Nvidia making chips and the companies providing data centres that run the infrastructure.
What’s Ahead For 2026?
Every year at McCrindle we launch research on the trends we expect to influence the year ahead. For leaders and decision makers looking to understand and engage with the different generations and respond to the trends download the Trends of 2026 infographic.
Article supplied with thanks to McCrindle.
About the Author: McCrindle are a team of researchers and communications specialists who discover insights, and tell the story of Australians – what we do, and who we are.
Feature image: Canva
