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 Ireland vs the EU average
The following chart illustrates how Ireland 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 Ireland is making positive progress in the SDGs and is performing better than the EU on average.
- 4 Quality education
- 10 Reduced inequalities
- 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
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 Ireland is making negative progress in the SDGs.
- 13 Climate action
- 12 Responsible production and consumption
- 17 Partnerships for the goals
Special mention
- 5 Gender equality
What is the result for Ireland?
Ireland has achieved high results in three SDG goals: Quality education (Goal 4), Reduced inequalities (Goal 10), and Peace, justice, and strong institutions (Goal 16).
This indicates that Ireland has made significant progress in promoting inclusive and equitable quality education for all, reducing inequalities, fostering peaceful and inclusive societies, and strengthening institutions for promoting justice and human rights.
However, the Ireland’s progress has been low in achieving the SDG goals of Climate action (Goal 13), Responsible production and consumption (Goal 12), and Partnerships for the goals (Goal 17).
This suggests that Ireland needs to focus on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns, and fostering partnerships for sustainable development to achieve the SDGs.
A special mention for Goal 5 was referenced as it was off the charts. This implies an exceptional progress in achieving the SDG goal of Gender equality (Goal 5).
This indicates that Ireland has made significant efforts in promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls, including measures to eliminate discrimination and violence against women, increase women’s participation in decision-making, and ensure equal access to education, health care, and economic opportunities.
This exceptional progress in Gender equality suggests that Ireland has a strong commitment to promoting gender equality and is likely to have positive social, economic, and political outcomes as a result of this progress.
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
