Azerbaijan moves up 5 notches in UN Sustainable Development Goals Index

In the UN's Sustainable Development Report 2022, Azerbaijan advanced by five steps compared to last year and scored 73.5 out of a possible 100 points, Rashad Huseynov, a department head at the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication, told Report.

He noted that currently, Azerbaijan ranks 50th among 163 countries in the Index of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

"According to this indicator, our country is a leader in the South Caucasus region (Georgia ranks 51st, Armenia 66th) and leaves behind two out of every three countries. For comparison, the average score for this index in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is 71.6, which is lower than Azerbaijan's."

Huseynov added that according to the report, Azerbaijan made progress on good health and welfare, quality education, poverty reduction, clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, combating climate change and protecting the soil ecosystem as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals partner.

“As for the sub-goals identified in the report, progress has been made regarding 35 of 83 goals assessed (partially or significantly), and 7 SDGs have been achieved.

The activity of each country can have a positive or negative impact on the ability of other countries to achieve SDGs. To determine these effects, the report also calculates a “spread or impact index,” which is assessed in three areas: the embodiment of environmental and social impacts in international trade, the economy and finance, and security. According to this assessment, Azerbaijan's score was 97.3, which shows that the country has more positive and less negative effects comparing to the achievement of SDGs by other countries.”

The UN’s annual Sustainable Development Goals Report is conducted to assess the position of each country to achieve the set goals of sustainable development until 2030. The report covers 17 global development goals set out in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.