River transport is an important pathway for nutrient transmission from land to sea in the global biogeochemical cycles. River nutrients account for a very large proportion of the flux into the sea. However, due to the dual impact of human activities and climate change, the transmission process of river nutrients has undergone great changes. Considering the two methods of data monitoring and numerical simulation of nutrients in rivers, we summarized the research progress of river nutrient flux calculation and revealed the trend of nutrient flux change in the world’s major rivers. In addition, the response of river nutrient process to climate change is analyzed from the perspectives of rising temperature and frequent extreme weather events, and the role of human activities in river nutrient process is discussed from the perspectives of land use, large-scale water conservancy projects and future water environment restoration. Finally, it is suggested that the future study should focus on the research of the impact of climate change and human activities, monitoring technology of water quality, numerical simulation and water environment protection and management according to the summary and analysis of the existing research results.