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How the scores are built

Where every number on SDG Atlas comes from, how this site's own scores are calculated, what each goal's score is made of, and where the data falls short.

Two sets of scores, kept apart

The landing page shows two separate sections. They share only the country and goal you select. Their numbers are never averaged, re-scaled or mixed together.

  • SDSN Sustainable Development Report 2026. The SDG Index, spillover score, goal scores, status colours and trend arrows for 169 ranked countries, shown exactly as published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Source: Sustainable Development Report 2026 (Sachs, Lafortune, Fuller, Iablonovski — SDSN), licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Only the layout is ours. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by SDSN.
  • SDG Atlas scores (this site's own). Goal scores for about 200 countries, calculated from official World Bank and UN indicators as described below. They are not official and not SDSN's.

No official body publishes a score per goal. The UN's own framework has indicators but no composite score, so the SDG Atlas builds one, and SDSN is the best-known independent one.

How an SDG Atlas score is calculated

  1. Pick official indicators. For each goal, several indicators from the World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0) and the UN SDG Global Database (free to reuse with the UN credited), chosen so each main target area of the goal is covered where country-level data exists.
  2. Latest value per country, ignoring anything older than 2010. Data was fetched on 2026-09-22.
  3. Score each indicator from 0 to 100. The best 10% of countries count as 100 (at target), the worst 5% as 0 (at the floor), with a straight line between. Direction is handled, so for poverty lower is better and for school completion higher is better. Countries all near target end up tied instead of being ranked apart on tiny differences.
  4. Average into a goal score. A country's goal score is the plain average of its indicator scores, every indicator counting equally. A country needs data on at least half of the goal's indicators to get a score.
  5. All goals combined is the average of a country's goal scores, and it needs at least half of the goals. Ranks are shared by tied countries, with the next rank following (1, 1, 2), and "=" marks a tie.

Every bar and wedge has a hover text listing the indicators behind it, and each goal page has a "What makes up the score" panel with the actual figures.

Where it falls short

  • Relative, not absolute. A score shows where a country sits against the target range, not whether the goal is achieved.
  • Different years. Each country's latest figure is used, so years differ between countries and indicators. The year is shown in the hover text and on the goal page.
  • Modelled and survey data. Some indicators are modelled estimates (food waste, some health measures) or self-reported surveys. Cautions are shown next to the source credit.
  • Target areas with no data. Some official target areas have no usable country-level data. They are listed per goal below.
  • Bounds come from the data. Most indicators have no official numeric target, so the 100 and 0 points are set from the countries themselves.
  • Indicator choice is a judgement. Choosing different indicators would give different scores, so the full list is shown below.

Known limitations by goal

  • 12. Responsible Consumption and Production. Most official indicators for this goal measure resource use, policies and reporting, and richer countries tend to consume more. Read it as a rough guide.
  • 13. Climate Action. Only one indicator here measures climate outcomes (emissions per person); the others are strategy and education scores that follow a country's wealth and government capacity more than its climate performance. Read it as a rough guide.
  • 14. Life Below Water. Landlocked countries have no score, and fish-stock health is only reported by ocean region. The score rests on protected areas, biodiversity protection, policy scores and beach litter.
  • 17. Partnerships for the Goals. Partnership quality is hard to measure country by country. The indicators are a mix (tax, debt, internet, tariffs, data openness). Read it as a rough guide.

What each goal's score is made of

1. No Poverty4 indicators · 169 countries scored

Not covered: Government spending on essential services (1.a) and disaster losses for the poor (1.5) are not scored separately; disaster losses appear under goals 11 and 13.

2. Zero Hunger7 indicators · 177 countries scored

3. Good Health and Well-being17 indicators · 193 countries scored

4. Quality Education11 indicators · 194 countries scored

5. Gender Equality8 indicators · 168 countries scored

Not covered: Unpaid care work (5.4), women's land rights (5.a) and women's phone ownership (5.b) have too little recent country data.

6. Clean Water and Sanitation11 indicators · 193 countries scored

7. Affordable and Clean Energy4 indicators · 213 countries scored

8. Decent Work and Economic Growth9 indicators · 180 countries scored

9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure7 indicators · 167 countries scored

Not covered: Road and transport access (9.1) and development aid for infrastructure (9.a) have no usable country-level data.

10. Reduced Inequalities7 indicators · 167 countries scored

Not covered: Labour share of income (10.4), voice in international bodies (10.6) and development aid targeting (10.b) have too little country data.

11. Sustainable Cities and Communities5 indicators · 173 countries scored

Not covered: Public transport access (11.2), city waste collection (11.6.1) and public open space (11.7) are reported per city, with too few countries at national level.

12. Responsible Consumption and Production8 indicators · 209 countries scored

Not covered: Material footprint (12.2.1), hazardous waste (12.4) and company sustainability reporting (12.6) have too little country data.

13. Climate Action5 indicators · 163 countries scored

Not covered: Climate finance (13.a), national adaptation plans (13.b) and Paris Agreement reporting (13.2.1) have no country-level data.

14. Life Below Water5 indicators · 171 countries scored

Not covered: Fish-stock sustainability (14.4) is only reported for ocean regions, not countries; landlocked countries have no marine data.

15. Life on Land7 indicators · 212 countries scored

Not covered: Genetic resources (15.6), invasive species (15.8) and biodiversity planning (15.9) are yes/no policy measures with no usable score.

16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions5 indicators · 181 countries scored

Not covered: Illicit flows (16.4), representation in institutions (16.7), and police reporting of crime (16.3.1) have too little country data.

17. Partnerships for the Goals7 indicators · 193 countries scored

Not covered: Aid given by donors (17.2), private finance flows (17.3) and partnership measures (17.15-17.17) have too little comparable country data.

Sources and credits