The 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs)
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU) is researching and monitoring the progress of EU countries towards the SDGs. In this “SDG Comparison by Country Series”, we look at each country and assess their strengths and weaknesses.
Progress of France vs the EU average
The following chart illustrates how France is performing for the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) compared to the EU average in 2022.
What SDGs are high?
If we focus on the high averages (the top right hand green and the top left hand yellow), we can see where France is making positive progress in the SDGs and is performing better than the EU on average.
- 4 Quality education
- 12 Responsible consumption and production
- 5 Gender equality
What SDGs are low?
If we focus on the low averages (the bottom right hand yellow and the bottom left hand red), we can see where France is making negative progress in the SDGs.
- 11 Sustainable cities and communities
- 17 Partnerships for the goals
- 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
What is the result for France?
France has made significant progress in achieving three SDG goals: Quality education (Goal 4), Responsible consumption and production (Goal 12), and Gender equality (Goal 5).
This indicates that France has invested in promoting inclusive and equitable quality education for all, encouraging responsible consumption and production patterns, and advancing gender equality and empowering women and girls.
However, the France’s progress has been low in achieving the SDG goals of Sustainable cities and communities (Goal 11), Partnerships for the goals (Goal 17), and Peace, justice, and strong institutions (Goal 16).
This suggests that France needs to focus on creating sustainable and resilient cities and communities, fostering partnerships for sustainable development, and strengthening institutions for promoting peace, justice, and human rights to achieve the SDGs.
Methodology
This chart compares a country in its standing with the EU average and track its progress over the past five years.
The SDGs are represented on a graph with four quadrants: green, upper yellow, lower yellow, and red.
- The green quadrant indicates that the country’s status is above the EU average, and it’s progressing towards the SDG.
- The lower yellow quadrant suggests that the country is making progress, but its status is below the EU average.
- The upper yellow quadrant represents a status above the EU average, but the country is moving away from the SDG.
- The red quadrant indicates that the status is below the EU average, and the country is moving away from the SDG.
The country’s status for each SDG is determined by the aggregation of all indicators of the specific goal, compared to the EU average. It’s a relative measure that also depends on the country’s natural conditions and historical developments.
However, a high status doesn’t necessarily mean that a country is close to achieving a specific SDG, but it indicates that it’s performing better than the EU on average.
On the other hand, the progress score for each SDG in a country is an absolute measure that’s not affected by the progress of other countries. It’s based on the average annual growth rates of all assessed indicators in the specific goal over the past five years.
Source: eurostat
