According to the World Economic Forum’s September 2025 briefing, synthetic data is set to reshape the global data ecosystem. Real-world datasets are often incomplete, biased, or restricted by privacy regulations, making artificially generated synthetic data an increasingly vital alternative. The report highlights its potential to fill critical data gaps, protect personal privacy, and provide scalable, cost-effective substitutes where organic data is limited or unavailable.
The Forum provides a taxonomy of applications: synthetic data is already being deployed in official statistics, clinical research to represent marginalised groups, financial inclusion initiatives, and simulations for autonomous vehicles or digital twins. Use cases range from modelling children’s behaviour for safer research to crisis scenario testing in urban planning and public health. However, the report warns of significant risks, including amplification of existing biases, “model collapse” when overrelying on synthetic datasets, and malicious misuse through deepfakes.
The recommendations emphasise robust quality assurance, transparency, traceability, and multi-stakeholder governance. Sector-specific standards are seen as crucial, alongside hybrid approaches that combine synthetic with organic datasets to avoid systemic distortions. In sum, the WEF concludes that synthetic data represents a major frontier for innovation, but only responsible and ethical deployment can ensure it benefits the public good.
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