Sustainable Development Report 2021 cover

Sustainable Development Report 2021 The Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals

Jun 14, 2021

The Sustainable Development Report 2021 presents the SDG Index and Dashboards for all UN member states, outlines the short-term impacts of COVID-19 on the SDGs, and describes how the SDGs can frame the recovery. It was prepared by teams of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

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Explore the SDR 2021 Dashboards

The interactive SDR 2021 Dashboards provide a visual representation of countries’ performance by SDG to identify priorities for action.

Resources

Rankings

Rank	Country	Score
1	Finland	85.9
2	Sweden	85.6
3	Denmark	84.9
4	Germany	82.5
5	Belgium	82.2
6	Austria	82.1
7	Norway	82.0
8	France	81.7
9	Slovenia	81.6
10	Estonia	81.6
11	Netherlands	81.6
12	Czech Republic	81.4
13	Ireland	81.0
14	Croatia	80.4
15	Poland	80.2
16	Switzerland	80.1
17	United Kingdom	80.0
18	Japan	79.8
19	Slovak Republic	79.6
20	Spain	79.5
21	Canada	79.2
22	Latvia	79.2
23	New Zealand	79.1
24	Belarus	78.8
25	Hungary	78.8
26	Italy	78.8
27	Portugal	78.6
28	Korea, Rep.	78.6
29	Iceland	78.2
30	Chile	77.1
31	Lithuania	76.7
32	United States	76.0
33	Malta	75.7
34	Serbia	75.6
35	Australia	75.6
36	Ukraine	75.5
37	Greece	75.4
38	Israel	75.0
39	Romania	75.0
40	Cyprus	74.9
41	Uruguay	74.5
42	Luxembourg	74.2
43	Thailand	74.2
44	Kyrgyz Republic	74.0
45	Bulgaria	73.8
46	Russian Federation	73.8
47	Bosnia and Herzegovina	73.7
48	Moldova	73.7
49	Cuba	73.7
50	Costa Rica	73.6
51	Vietnam	72.8
52	Argentina	72.8
53	Ecuador	72.5
54	North Macedonia	72.5
55	Azerbaijan	72.4
56	Georgia	72.2
57	China	72.1
58	Armenia	71.8
59	Kazakhstan	71.6
60	Tunisia	71.4
61	Brazil	71.3
62	Fiji	71.2
63	Peru	71.1
64	Albania	71.0
65	Malaysia	70.9
66	Algeria	70.9
67	Dominican Republic	70.8
68	Colombia	70.6
69	Morocco	70.5
70	Turkey	70.4
71	United Arab Emirates	70.2
72	Jordan	70.1
73	Oman	70.1
74	Iran, Islamic Rep.	70.0
75	Bhutan	70.0
76	Singapore	69.9
77	Uzbekistan	69.8
78	Tajikistan	69.8
79	Maldives	69.3
80	Mexico	69.1
81	Jamaica	69.0
82	Egypt, Arab Rep.	68.6
83	Barbados	68.4
84	Brunei Darussalam	68.3
85	Montenegro	68.2
86	Cabo Verde	68.1
87	Sri Lanka	68.1
88	Panama	68.0
89	El Salvador	67.9
90	Bolivia	67.6
91	Suriname	67.0
92	Paraguay	66.9
93	Lebanon	66.8
94	Qatar	66.7
95	Mauritius	66.7
96	Nepal	66.5
97	Indonesia	66.3
98	Saudi Arabia	66.3
99	Nicaragua	66.3
100	Bahrain	66.1
101	Myanmar	64.9
102	Cambodia	64.5
103	Philippines	64.5
104	Belize	64.4
105	Iraq	63.8
106	Mongolia	63.8
107	South Africa	63.7
108	Trinidad and Tobago	63.5
109	Bangladesh	63.5
110	Lao PDR	63.0
111	Gabon	62.8
112	Honduras	62.8
113	Kuwait	62.5
114	Ghana	62.5
115	Botswana	61.9
116	Namibia	61.8
117	Turkmenistan	61.1
118	Kenya	60.6
119	Vanuatu	60.5
120	India	60.1
121	Guatemala	59.9
122	Venezuela, RB	59.3
123	Gambia, The	59.3
124	Sao Tome and Principe	58.8
125	Zimbabwe	58.7
126	Senegal	58.4
127	Syrian Arab Republic	58.0
128	Guyana	57.9
129	Pakistan	57.7
130	Rwanda	57.6
131	Cote d'Ivoire	57.6
132	Tanzania	56.4
133	Mauritania	55.5
134	Cameroon	55.3
135	Lesotho	54.6
136	Ethiopia	54.5
137	Afghanistan	53.9
138	Djibouti	53.8
139	Burkina Faso	53.5
140	Uganda	53.5
141	Zambia	53.4
142	Eswatini	53.3
143	Togo	53.2
144	Congo, Rep.	52.9
145	Yemen, Rep.	52.9
146	Mali	52.2
147	Burundi	51.8
148	Sierra Leone	51.7
149	Malawi	51.4
150	Haiti	51.4
151	Papua New Guinea	51.3
152	Mozambique	51.1
153	Guinea	51.0
154	Angola	50.3
155	Benin	49.9
156	Niger	49.5
157	Sudan	49.5
158	Congo, Dem. Rep.	49.3
159	Madagascar	49.0
160	Nigeria	48.9
161	Liberia	48.6
162	Somalia	45.6
163	Chad	40.9
164	South Sudan	38.9
165	Central African Republic	38.3
	Andorra	N/A
	Antigua and Barbuda	N/A
	Bahamas, The	N/A
	Comoros	N/A
	Dominica	N/A
	Equatorial Guinea	N/A
	Eritrea	N/A
	Grenada	N/A
	Guinea-Bissau	N/A
	Kiribati	N/A
	Korea, Dem. Rep.	N/A
	Libya	N/A
	Liechtenstein	N/A
	Marshall Islands	N/A
	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	N/A
	Monaco	N/A
	Nauru	N/A
	Palau	N/A
	Samoa	N/A
	San Marino	N/A
	Seychelles	N/A
	Solomon Islands	N/A
	St. Kitts and Nevis	N/A
	St. Lucia	N/A
	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	N/A
	Timor-Leste	N/A
	Tonga	N/A
	Tuvalu	N/A

Explore data in interactive dashboard

About the Authors

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs
Director, SDSN; Project Director of the SDG Index

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries. He is the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership, and many other international awards and honors. He has twice been named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. He was called by the New York Times, “probably the most important economist in the world,” and by Time magazine, “the world’s best known economist.” A survey by The Economist in 2011 ranked Professor Sachs as amongst the world’s three most influential living economists of the first decade of the 21st century.

Professor Sachs serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He is University Professor at Columbia University, the university’s highest academic rank. During 2002 to 2016 he served as the Director of the Earth Institute. Sachs is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on the Sustainable Development Goals, and previously advised UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on both the Sustainable Development Goals and Millennium Development Goals and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals.

Dr. Christian Kroll
Senior Expert, Bertelsmann Stiftung; Scientific Co-Director of the SDG Index

Dr. Christian Kroll

Dr. Christian Kroll is Scientific Co-Director of the SDG Index, and Senior Expert for Sustainable Development at Bertelsmann Stiftung. He gained a PhD from the London School of Economics with a thesis entitled “Towards a Sociology of Happiness” and authored articles in scientific journals spanning several disciplines, as well as numerous policy-oriented reports. His publication “Sustainable Development Goals: Are the rich countries ready” with a foreword by Kofi Annan featured the prototype SDG Index (for OECD countries). Christian is a Guest Lecturer at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin where he developed the country’s first university course on the SDGs. Previously, he taught at the LSE and held academic positions at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as well as Jacobs University. His research was featured by national and international media such as the Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, Le Monde, Die Zeit, ARD, Spiegel Online and others. Christian was honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Contact: Email / Twitter / Web

Guillaume Lafortune
Director, SDSN Paris; Scientific Co-Director of the SDG Index

Guillaume Lafortune

Guillaume Lafortune took up his duties as Director of SDSN Paris in January 2021. He joined SDSN in 2017 to coordinate the production of the Sustainable Development Report and other projects on SDG data and statistics.

Previously, he has served as an economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) working on public governance reforms and statistics. He was one of the lead advisors for the production of the 2015 and 2017 flagship statistical report Government at a Glance. He also contributed to analytical work related to public sector efficiency, open government data and citizens’ satisfaction with public services. Earlier, Guillaume worked as an economist at the Ministry of Economic Development in the Government of Quebec (Canada). Guillaume holds a M.Sc in public administration from the National School of Public Administration (ENAP) in Montreal and a B.Sc in international economics from the University of Montreal.

Contact: Email

Grayson Fuller
Analyst, Paris

Grayson Fuller

Grayson Fuller joined the Paris Secretariat as the SDG Index Analyst. His role consists of managing the data, coding, and statistical analyses for the SDG Index and Dashboards report. He additionally carries out research related to sustainable development. Grayson received his Masters degree in Economic Development at Sciences Po Paris. He holds a Bachelors in Latin American Studies from Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude. Grayson has lived in several Latin American countries and speaks English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Russian. He enjoys playing violin and hails from Atlanta, GA.

Contact: Email

Finn Woelm
Data Scientist and Analyst, Paris

Finn Woelm

Finn Woelm is an analyst at the SDG Index. He focuses on statistical analyses, data visualization, and web development. Prior to joining the SDSN, Finn co-founded a startup and worked for a number of organizations, including the International Panel on Social Progress. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Finn is passionate about open source, collaborative governance, and the environment.

Contact: Email

About the Publishers

Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) has been operating since 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Bertelsmann Stiftung
The Bertelsmann Stiftung is one of the largest foundations in Germany. It works to promote social inclusion and is committed to advancing this goal through programs that improve education, shape democracy, advance society, promote health, vitalize culture and strengthen economies. The Bertelsmann Stiftung is a non-partisan, private operating foundation.

Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press dates from 1534 and is part of the University of Cambridge. Its mission is to unlock people’s potential with the best learning and research solutions. Its vision is a world of learning and research inspired by Cambridge. Playing a leading role in today’s global market place, Cambridge University Press has over 50 offices around the globe, and distributes products to nearly every country in the world.

Authors

Jeffrey Sachs, Christian Kroll, Guillaume Lafortune, Grayson Fuller, and Finn Woelm

Citation

Sachs, J., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., Woelm, F. (2021). The Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals: Sustainable Development Report 2021. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Salma Dahir, Alainna Lynch, Anique Ahmed, Melchior Bengtsson, and Walid Touzi for statistical support. We also thank Grant Cameron, Alyson Marks, and Hayden Dahmm from the Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (TReNDs) and Cecil Haverkamp and Marion Ferrat from the SDSN Food and Land team for their valuable comments and contributions. We also thank Guido Schmidt-Traub (SYSTEMIQ) for his valuable comments.

The report combines data and analyses produced by international organizations, civil society organizations, and research centers. We thank all for their contributions and collaboration in producing the report. The full list of contributing organizations can be found in the References section of this report.

We also thank the regional and national SDSN networks, experts, and government officials for responding to the 2021 survey on “national implementation and coordination mechanisms for the SDGs at the central/federal level.”

María Cortés Puch, Cheyenne Maddox, Emily High, and Ryan Swaney provided communication support for the launch of the report. We thank Phil Good and Jo Breeze from Cambridge University Press and Roberto Rossi from Pica Publishing for preparing the manuscript for publication.

Contact

Please contact us at info@sdgindex.org. In order to contact the scientific co-directors of the project directly please write to guillaume.lafortune and christian.kroll@bertelsmann-stiftung.de