Introduction

Welcome to the sixth edition of SDG Pulse – UNCTAD’s annual statistical publication tracking developments related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development -—
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and the SDGs. As we pass the half-way mark of the 2030 Agenda, concerns about achieving sustainable development for all are mounting. Economic and social distress, particularly for those most in need, is exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, and in Gaza, leading to longer and more expensive trade routes, increased hunger and food insecurity, and rising CO2 emissions, impacting developing countries’ ability to meet the SDGs, and the need for reliable information becomes even more critical.

This report serves three main purposes: firstly, to provide an update on the evolution of selected official SDG indicators and complementary data and statistics; secondly, to report on progress in developing new concepts and methodologies for SDG indicators for which UNCTAD serves as a global custodian; and, thirdly, to showcase UNCTAD’s support to member States in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Building on the previous edition, SDG Pulse continues to track progress according to four transformations identified at UNCTAD’s intergovernmental meeting in Bridgetown -—
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.

The report also delves into thematic issues relevant to the 2030 Agenda. This year’s In Focus topic explores gender equality in trade. Despite global advancements, gender inequality persists, affecting women's lives through economic participation, education, health, and political empowerment worldwide. UNCTAD's new gender equality in trade indicator set helps illuminate gender gaps in trade to inform effective policy actions and accelerate just and equal development.

The report is arranged in a way that it can be read by theme, and by goal and indicator. In 2024, the online report will also be accompanied by an overview report to provide the key highlights of SDG Pulse.

Theme Theme

In the thematic view, the data and analysis are organized according to the four themes outlined by the Bridgetown Covenant -—
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. These include multilateralism and trade, development finance, diversification, and sustainability and resilience. UNCTAD's work contributes significantly to these themes and progress across a broad spectrum of related SDG indicators. Through this thematic lens, the report discusses recent trends in trade, including barriers to trade and efforts to enhance food security through trade. It also covers financial resource mobilization, South-South cooperation, investment, debt sustainability, and illicit financial flows. The theme of diversification discusses sustainable industrialization, transport resilience, digitalization, and productive capacities. Furthermore, environmental sustainability, risks, and vulnerabilities, including sustainable trade practices are at the core of the sustainability and resilience theme.

Goals and indicators Goals and indicators

In the goals-and-indicators view, the content is organized according to SDGs and their related indicators. These are selected to align with UNCTAD’s broad mandate in trade and development, investment, finance, and technology. The SDG indicators presented in this report are supplemented with additional data and official statistics to provide a comprehensive understanding of development. The SDG indicators presented in this report are:

Goal 1Goal 2Goal 8Goal 9Goal 10Goal 12Goal 16Goal 17

Goal 1: No poverty

  • Indicator 1.5.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population.
  • Indicator 1.5.2: Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP).

Goal 2: Zero hunger

  • Indicator 2.1.1: Prevalence of undernourishment.
  • Indicator 2.1.2: Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES).
  • Indicator 2.b.1: Agricultural export subsidies.
  • Indicator 2.c.1: Indicator of (food) price anomalies.

Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth

  • Indicator 8.a.1 Aid for Trade commitments and disbursements.

Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

  • Indicator 9.1.2: Passenger and freight volumes, by mode of transport.*
  • Indicator 9.2.1: Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita.
  • Indicator 9.2.2: Manufacturing employment as a proportion of total employment.
  • Indicator 9.4.1: CO2 emission per unit of value added.
  • Indicator 9.5.1: Research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP.
  • Indicator 9.5.2: Researchers (in full-time equivalent) per million inhabitants
  • Indicator 9.b.1: Proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added.
  • Indicator 9.c.1: Proportion of population covered by a mobile network, by technology.

Goal 10: Reduce inequality

  • Indicator 10.a.1: Proportion of tariff lines applied to imports from LDCs and developing countries with zero-tariff*.
  • Indicator 10.b.1: Total resource flows for development, by recipient and donor countries and type of flow.

Goal 12: Responsible consumption & production

  • Indicator 12.5.1: National recycling rate, tons of material recycled.
  • Indicator 12.6.1: Number of companies publishing sustainability reports*.

Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

  • Indicator 16.4.1: Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows*.

Goal 17: Partnership for the goals

  • Indicator 17.2.1: Net official development assistance, total and to LDCs.
  • Indicator 17.3.1: Additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources*.
  • Indicator 17.4.1: Debt service as a share of exports of goods and services.
  • Indicator 17.5.1: Implement investment promotion regimes for LDCs*.
  • Indicator 17.6.1: Fixed Internet broadband subscriptions.
  • Indicator 17.10.1: Worldwide weighted tariff-average*.
  • Indicator 17.11.1 Developing countries and LDCs' share of global exports*.
  • Indicator 17.12.1: Tariffs faced by developing countries, LDCs and SIDS*.

This includes all indicators for which UNCTAD serves as a custodian or co-custodian. These indicators fall under goals 9, 10, 12, 16 and 17, encompassing topics such as trade, tariffs, development finance and South-South cooperation, debt, investment, illicit financial flows, maritime transport, and enterprise sustainability.

Custodian agencies of SDG indicators, including UNCTAD, are responsible for developing international standards and recommending methodologies for measuring SDG indicators. They are also tasked with compiling and verifying country data and metadata, and for submitting the data, alongside regional and global aggregates, to the Global SDG Indicator Database and Report, updated by the United Nations Statistics Division. The custodian agencies’ role is to enhance the accuracy and consistency of SDG reporting worldwide to facilitate informed decision-making towards strengthening SDG achievement by 2030.

To see UNCTAD custodian indicators and find related SDG Pulse sections, click on the graph.

UNCTAD in Action UNCTAD in Action

UNCTAD operates an extensive capacity development programme to support progress towards the 2030 Agenda. This report showcases case studies from UNCTAD’s development programme through a statistical lens, presenting UNCTAD’s activities and achievements in hard numbers. These case studies are pivotal as they exemplify the Results Based Management approach, adopted by UNCTAD, to improve our responsiveness and accountability to member States. In 2024, these case studies provide new insights into UNCTAD’s activities in supporting measurement of South-South cooperation (SDG indicator 17.3.1) and illicit financial flows (SDG indicator 16.4.1), actively promoting ICT as a tool for development, and supporting enterprise sustainability reporting (SDG indicator 12.6.1).

In Focus In Focus

Each year, the SDG Pulse focuses on a specific aspect of the 2030 Agenda, examining it through the lens of statistics. Following the UNCTAD ministerial meeting in Bridgetown -—
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, policymakers emphasized the need to move beyond integrating a gender perspective and actively promoting the inclusion and empowerment of women and youth. Gender-disaggregated data was underscored as crucial for evidence-based policy-making. This SDG Pulse In Focus illustrates UNCTAD’s commitment to this agenda, including the launch of the first ever set of gender equality in trade indicators.

The study utilizes indicators derived from international databases, such as employment and earnings by sex in tradable sectors, trade-intensive and trade-dependent industries. For the first time, it provides insights into international trade from a gender perspective by country and globally.

This year’s study reveals several key findings. It identifies opportunities for developing economies in Africa, Asia and Oceania to grow their service sectors, thereby expanding women’s economic contributions. It also notes that high-skilled female workers face less gender inequalities. In 2023, UNCTAD and UN Women calculated that an additional $360 billion per year is needed for 48 developing countries (included in the study) to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. To effectively inform policy actions, further country-specific analyses are needed to understand the unique drivers and barriers affecting women’s participation in trade in high value-added sectors. To this end, UNCTAD carried out pilot testing of data linking in six countries jointly with the Economic Commissions for Africa and Europe, and released Compilation Guidelines that enable such linking in all interested countries. Since 2015, over 2 200 people have been trained through UNCTAD’s e-learning courses on trade and gender.

Data and classifications

All data used in maps and charts can be downloaded by clicking on the top right of each data visualization.

Disclaimer

The designations employed and the presentation of material on this web site do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). The final boundary between the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan has not yet been determined. The final status of the following territories has not yet been agreed or determined: Abyei area, Aksai Chin, Arunachal Pradesh, Bi’r Tawil, Hala’ib Triangle, Ilemi Triangle, Jammu and Kashmir, Kuril Islands, Paracel Islands, Scarborough Shoal, Senkaku Islands, Spratly Islands.

The designations “developing” and “developed” are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process. UNCTAD’s grouping of developing and developed economies is based on the former development status classification of the M49 standard, with some recent updates. For more details, see the UNCTADstat classification page.

Acknowledgements

SDG Pulse was developed by the UNCTAD Statistics Service, led by Anu Peltola, Director. The following staff of the Service prepared the statistics, analysis and design: Sana Al-Jadir, Nour Barnat, David Bicchetti, Sonia Blachier, Alexander Blackburn, Sanja Blazevic, Diana Camerini, Yoann Chaine, Richard Chalverat, Ekaterina Chernova, Flavine Creppy, David Cristallo, Denis Gervalle, Victoria Goudeva, Daniel Hopp, Petra Kynclova, Ildephonse Mbabazizimana, Bojan Nastav, Mariyam Raziyeva, Amandine Rushenguziminega, Benny Salo, and Anton Sudzik.

The following UNCTAD experts contributed to the drafting of the report with statistics and analysis across divisions: Regina Asariotis, Mark Assaf, Hassiba Benamara, Omar Benyamina, Rachid Bouhia, Dominique Chantrel, Mathilde Closset, Claudia Contreras, Amelie Cournoyer, Deane De Menezes, Yihong Gong, Robert Hamwey, Penelope Hawkins, Jan Hoffmann, Daniel Ker, Tomasz Kulaga, Maxime Ladriere, Smita lakhe, Aurélie Legrand, Mariangela Linoci, Daniela Magalhaes Prates, Massimo Meloni, Samuel Munyaneza, Ngoc Nguyen, Alessandro Nicita, Valeriu Nitoi, Luisa Rodriguez, Henrique Silva Pacini Costa, Gerry Teeling, Lorenzo Tosini, Arlette Verploegh Chabot, David Jose Vivas Eugui, Frida Youssef and Yan Zhang.

In addition, external experts from National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, Statistics Finland, Georgia National Statistics Office, UNDRR and UNODC provided crucial support in drafting the report.

Notes

  • * Indicator for which UNCTAD is a custodian or co-custodian agency.

References

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