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 Spain vs the EU average
The following chart illustrates how Spain 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 Spain is making positive progress in the SDGs and is performing better than the EU on average.
- 4 Quality education
- 2 Zero hunger
- 7 Affordable and clean energy
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 Spain is making negative progress in the SDGs.
- 8 Decent work and economic growth
- 10 Reduced inequalities
- 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
What is the result for Spain?
Spain has achieved high progress in three SDG goals: Quality education (Goal 4), Zero hunger (Goal 2), and Affordable and clean energy (Goal 7).
This indicates that Spain has made significant progress in ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all, reducing hunger and malnutrition, and promoting access to affordable and clean energy.
These achievements can contribute to improved human development, poverty reduction, and sustainable economic growth in the country.
However, Spain’s progress has been low in achieving the SDG goals of Decent work and economic growth (Goal 8), Reduced inequalities (Goal 10), and Peace, justice, and strong institutions (Goal 16).
This suggests that Spain needs to focus on creating job opportunities, promoting sustainable economic growth, reducing inequalities, ensuring social and economic inclusion for all, promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, and strengthening institutions for promoting justice and human rights.
Addressing these low-progress SDGs can lead to improved social, economic, and political outcomes in the country.
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
