Indicator Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals: A Global Perspective

Idiano D’Adamo, Marialucia Della Sciucca, Massimo Gastaldi () and Barbara Lupi
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Idiano D’Adamo: Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Marialucia Della Sciucca: University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Massimo Gastaldi: Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Barbara Lupi: Struttura Commissariale Ricostruzione Sisma 2016, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, 00184 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-30

Abstract: This study compares the progress of 141 countries towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using a multi-criteria approach based on 72 indicators from the Sustainable Development Report 2024. The adoption of two aggregation methods—min-max and TOPSIS—has made it possible to highlight both the sensitivity of the results to the techniques used and the moderate consistency between the rankings obtained. Sweden comes out on top using the min-max method, followed by Finland and Denmark. The TOPSIS method, on the other hand, rewards Croatia, followed by Brazil and Sweden. The aggregate ranking by position shows Sweden ahead of Finland and Croatia, and there are sixteen European countries in the top twenty. The analysis using the min-max method reveals Sweden’s leadership in economic sustainability, Belarus’s in environmental sustainability, and Denmark’s in social sustainability. At the continental level, Europe—particularly the Nordic countries—stands out as an area of excellence in all dimensions, although North America emerges as the leader in the economic dimension. Africa, instead, shows the poorest results. Furthermore, a comparison between OECD and BRICS+ countries shows a clear superiority of the former, especially in the social sphere. The findings highlight the pressing need for enhanced commitment to the SDGs, calling for coherent, cross-sectoral strategies and long-term global vision in policymaking.

Keywords: global countries; human; indicators; multi-criteria analysis; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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