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 Sweden vs the EU average
The following chart illustrates how Sweden 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 Sweden is making positive progress in the SDGs and is performing better than the EU on average.
- 8 Decent work and economic growth
- 13 Climate action
- 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure
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 Sweden is making negative progress in the SDGs.
- 12 Responsible consumption and production
- 7 Affordable and clean energy
- 11 Sustainable cities and communities
What is the result for Sweden?
Sweden has achieved high results in three SDG goals: Decent work and economic growth (Goal 8), Climate action (Goal 13), and Industry, innovation, and infrastructure (Goal 9).
This indicates that Sweden has made significant progress in promoting sustainable economic growth, creating job opportunities, mitigating climate change, and investing in innovative and sustainable infrastructure.
However, Sweden’s progress has been low in achieving the SDG goals of Responsible consumption and production (Goal 12), Affordable and clean energy (Goal 7), and Sustainable cities and communities (Goal 11).
This suggests that Sweden needs to focus on promoting responsible consumption and production patterns, increasing access to affordable and clean energy, and creating more sustainable and resilient cities and communities 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
