From UN Trade and Development, a statistical breakdown of the world’s uneven progress towards achieving shared prosperity on a sustainable planet by 2030.
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The SDG Pulse 2024 released on 8 July provides a global reference for tracking developments related to the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The annual statistical publication, now in its sixth edition, paints a mixed picture of how the world is faring on the global goals, highlighting the stark disparities that remain despite significant advancements.
“This report serves as a call to action, urging policymakers, businesses, and civil society to leverage its insights to drive meaningful change,” says UN Trade and Development Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, “The time for data-informed action is now.”
The SDG Pulse 2024 comes on the heels of recent findings from the United Nations that only 17% of the SDG targets are on track, though the world is more than halfway along the timeline of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Its data and analysis cover a wide range of SDG indicators relevant to trade, investment, financing for development, debt, transport, and technology.
It also features an “In focus” section on gender equality in international trade, based on a new set of indicators that reveal persistent gaps, urging targeted policies for women’s economic empowerment.
Here are four main takeaways.
1. Need to strengthen the multilateral trading system for inclusive development
While the value of global services trade expanded in 2023 – by 8.9% worldwide, and 9.5% across developing economies – merchandise trade fell by 4.6% globally and 6.3% in the developing world.
Structurally weak economies remained marginalized in world trade.
In 2023, small island developing states accounted for 3% of global exports of merchandise and services, while developing economies collectively represented 40%.
Despite growth in absolute terms, the share of least developed countries (LDCs) in global exports has stagnated at around 1% since 2011.
2. Development assistance at new highs, but still far from agreed targets
For a fifth consecutive year, total official development assistance rose to fresh record highs in 2023.
But the $223.7 billion disbursements only corresponded to 0.37% of gross national income of developed economies, well short of the 0.7% target to revitalize global partnerships for sustainable development.
In 2023, the external debt stocks of developing economies amounted to $11.4 trillion, more than twice it was a decade ago.
More concerning is the rising costs of borrowing draining vital public resources for development, with 3.3 billion people living in countries that spend more on interest than on health or education.
Low-income countries and LDCs spent nearly 20% of government revenues on debt repayments in 2023 – four times the percentage seen in 2013.
3. Persistent technology gap leaves LDCs behind in industrialization
Fast-tracking the global goals necessitates technological advancement, which can be measured by the proportion of medium- and high-tech in total manufacturing exports.
In 2022, 61% of manufacturing exports from developed economies consisted of medium- or high-tech products, compared to 35% in Africa.
In the same year, manufacturing value added per capita in developed economies reached $5,366 (at 2015 prices) – a staggering 25 times the average of Africa ($209) and 33 times that of LDCs ($163).
While LDCs are not on course to meet the SDG target in doubling manufacturing value added and employment, the relatively constant employment shares alongside increasing value added suggested an encouraging, overall improvement in productivity.
4. World off track to curb climate risks, but decreasing carbon intensity raises hope for sustainable economy
In 2022, the atmospheric concentrations of the main greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide all reached new record levels, with estimates of energy-related emissions indicating continued growth in 2023.
While emissions continue to rise, reductions in carbon dioxide emissions intensity – observed across all regions since 1990 – are starting to offset higher consumption from population growth.
Flagging significant regional disparities in carbon intensity, UN Trade and Development calls for more support to developing regions to shore up sustainable infrastructure and lower-carbon technologies. These efforts will be key to enhancing energy efficiency and phasing out polluting energy generation methods.