Adopted in 2015 by all United Nations (UN) members, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a global agenda for making the world a better place by 2030. They are described by the UN as a ‘shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet‘, and goals are to be achieved by all countries, in global partnership, by 2030.
This data tracker uses the latest official data to look at how the Nordic countries are progressing towards achieving the 17 SDGs, with this page looking closer at Sustainable Development Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.
Each target is presented by first looking at global trends, before zooming in on the Nordic countries and assessing their performance. The assessment is based on work by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in analysing the progress made toward the SDGs in all OECD countries.
Target 17.1
Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection
Indicators:
| 17.1.1 | Total government revenue as a proportion of GDP, by source |
| 17.1.2 | Proportion of domestic budget funded by domestic taxes |
Global trends
Total government revenue (17.1.1) accounted for around a third of GDP on average worldwide in 2020, a level which has remained largely stable over the past decade. Most regions are close to the worldwide average level, with the exception of Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa. Here total government revenue stands at one-fourth, and one-fifth of GDP respectively (regional aggregate).
The share of the domestic budget funded by domestic taxes (17.2.1) had pre-pandemic been at a relatively stable level of around 60% on average worldwide but declined to around 50% in 2020 as the pandemic negatively impacted economies worldwide.
Note that the regional groupings used in the visualisation above (and all other visualisations on this page with regional data) follow the UN regional classification for the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Nordics
The Nordics are all at a significantly higher level of government revenue as share of GDP than the worldwide average. The same applies for the share of the domestic budget funded by domestic taxes in the case of Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. Finland and Norway are both closer to the worldwide average.
Target 17.2
Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of ODA/GNI to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries; ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries
Indicators:
| 17.2.1 | Net official development assistance, total and to least developed countries, as a proportion of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee donors’ gross national income (GNI) |
Global trends
The world is still far off the internationally agreed target of Official Development Assistance (ODA), reaching only 0.33% of the gross domestic income (GNI) of developed countries in 2021.
For least developed countries, total ODA amounted to 0.09% of developed countries' GNI in 2020, also far off the 0.20% level encouraged in the target text.
The Nordics
The latest data shows that Denmark, Norway and Sweden are above the 0.7% ODA target as of 2021. Denmark has, however, trended away from the ODA target levels in recent years.
Data from 2020 also show that Denmark, Norway and Sweden are above 0.2% ODA as share of GNI to Least Developed Countries.
Target 17.3
Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources
Indicators:
| 17.3.1 | Additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources |
| 17.3.2 | Volume of remittances (in United States dollars) as a proportion of total GDP |
Global trends
Indicator 17.3.1 is measured in terms of the volume of global foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2020, global FDI fell to its lowest level since 2005. UNCTAD has, however, estimated that it has rebounded strongly in 2021 to around USD 1,6 trillion, which is above pre-pandemic levels.
The volume of remittances (17.3.2) as a share of GDP kept growing during the pandemic, and reached a global high of almost 0.8% of world GDP in 2020. In Central and Southern Asia, remittances account for over 4% of GDP (regional aggregate).
The Nordics
Target not applicable to the Nordic countries.
Target 17.4
Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and address the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress
Indicators:
| 17.4.1 | Debt service as a proportion of exports of goods and services |
Global trends
The debt-to-export ratio has increased in four of five SDG regions (for which data is available) between 2015 to 2020, indicating an increased debt burden as measured in terms of a country's exports.
The Nordics
Target not applicable to the Nordic countries.
Target 17.5
Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries
Indicators:
| 17.5.1 | Number of countries that adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for developing countries, including the least developed countries |
Global trends
A vast number of countries worldwide have in place bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with developing countries. However, the number of countries with BITs signed and in force with least developed countries was significantly lower, with the numbers remaining unchanged since 2015.
The Nordics
All the Nordic countries have in place bilateral investment treaties with both developing countries and least developed countries.
Target 17.6
Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism
Indicators:
| 17.6.1 | Fixed Internet broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by speed |
Global trends
No data available is from the UN SDG Global Database at the global or regional level. No country-level data is assessed as due to the increasing role of mobile connectivity, the current indicator focusing on fixed broadband only gives a partial picture of global internet access.
Target 17.7
Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed
Indicators:
| 17.7.1 | Total amount of funding for developing countries to promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies |
Global trends
This indicator is measured through trade in environmentally sound technologies. In monetary terms, trade in environmentally sound technologies (sum of exports and imports) was 6.4% higher in 2020 than in 2015, and stood at above USD 2,300 billion in 2020. In terms of technology type, the largest trading flows between 2015-2020 were environmental monitoring, followed by wastewater management and renewable energy. The latter was also the technology type with the strongest increase during the five-year period.
The Nordics
Trade in absolute monetary amounts is not suitable for cross-country comparisons.
Target 17.8
Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology
Indicators:
| 17.8.1 | Proportion of individuals using the Internet |
Global trends
Global connectivity to the internet is continuing to increase, with 6 out of 10 individuals worldwide using the internet in 2020.
Internet usage has increased in all regions, with Central and Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa seeing the most rapid expansion of usage since 2015. Still, in both these regions, as well as in Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) the large majority of the population is not using the internet.
The Nordics
Internet usage in the Nordic countries is near universal according to the latest OECD data from 2021, thus the all the Nordics have already achieved this target.
Target 17.9
Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the Sustainable Development Goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation
Indicators:
| 17.9.1 | Dollar value of financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South‑South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries |
Global trends
In 2020 total Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocated for capacity building and national planning reached USD 45 billion, 10 billion more than in 2015 and twice as much compared to 2000.
The Nordics
ODA by sector in absolute amounts is not suitable for cross-country comparisons.
Target 17.10
Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda
Indicators:
| 17.10.1 | Worldwide weighted tariff-average |
Global trends
Worldwide weighted tariff rates have declined from around 2.6% in 2015 to 1.9% in 2020, thus indicating a trend towards lower tariffs worldwide. Note that no specific target level is set in the SDG framework for this indicator.
Most SDG regions have seen declining tariff rates since 2015, apart from Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand).
Agricultural products, clothing and textiles are the products facing the highest tariff rates.
The Nordics
Insufficient data are available for the Nordic countries.
Target 17.11
Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020
Indicators:
| 17.11.1 | Developing countries’ and least developed countries’ share of global exports |
Global trends
Developing countries' share of global merchandise and service exports have stabilised in recent years after increasing until the start of the century. As such, there has been no progress towards to goal of increasing developing countries' share of exports since 2015. Note that this target was to be achieved by 2020.
Least developed countries (LDCs) also seem to be far off the target of doubling their share of exports. As of 2020, countries classified as LDCs stand for 1% of global merchandise exports and 0.7 of global service exports.
The Nordics
Not applicable at the Nordic country level.
Target 17.12
Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access
Indicators:
| 17.12.1 | Weighted average tariffs faced by developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing States |
Global trends
After declining at the start of the century, tariff levels faced by developing countries have remained largely unchanged for the past decade and currently stand at just above 1% for a weighted average of key products (agricultural products, arms, clothing, industrial products, oil and textiles). A similar level is observed for least developed countries, while small island developing States are at around 0.3%.
The Nordics
The average tariff levels applied by the Nordics on key products from developing countries were lower in 2020 than they were in 2000. However, progress has been uneven. In Iceland tariff levels have remained stable since 2015. In Norway they have increased, although Norway still has the lowest tariff levels of the Nordics.
New data has been released by the UN since the OECD published its report. The OECD assessment is therefore not shown.
Target 17.13
Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy coordination and policy coherence
Indicators:
| 17.13.1 | Macroeconomic Dashboard |
Data on this target is to be integrated into the tracker in the future.
Target 17.14
Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development
Indicators:
| 17.14.1 | Number of countries with mechanisms in place to enhance policy coherence of sustainable development |
Insufficient data are available for analysis of global, regional or country-level trends.
Target 17.15
Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development
Indicators:
| 17.15.1 | Extent of use of country-owned results frameworks and planning tools by providers of development cooperation |
Global trends
This indicator is based on an assessment of three sub-indicators:
- Whether objectives are drawn from country-owned results frameworks, plans and strategies
- Share of results indicators that are drawn from country-owned results frameworks, plans and strategies %
- Share of results indicators that will rely on sources of data provided by existing country-led monitoring systems or national statistical services to track project progress %
The three sub-indicators are combined in an average index score from 0-100, where 100 indicates the best possible score. Higher scores indicate a higher extent of ownership by the recipient country in development cooperation partnerships.
The latest data from 2018 shows that the world average for all bilateral providers stood at 57, down from 64 in 2016.
The Nordics
Among the Nordics, Iceland achieves a full score on the index, with both Finland and Norway also scoring above the worldwide bilateral donor average.
No trend assessment of progress is given by the OECD for this target.
Target 17.16
Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
Indicators:
| 17.16.1 | Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals |
Global trends
Almost half of countries providing and or receiving development cooperation, reported progress towards strengthening multistakeholder partnerships for development in support of achievement of the SDGs.
The Nordics
Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are among the countries reporting progress.
No trend assessment of progress is given by the OECD for this target.
Target 17.17
Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships
Indicators:
| 17.17.1 | Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure |
Insufficient data are available for analysis of global, regional or country-level trends.
Target 17.18
By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts
Indicators:
| 17.18.1 | Statistical capacity indicator for Sustainable Development Goal monitoring |
| 17.18.2 | Number of countries that have national statistical legislation that complies with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics |
| 17.18.3 | Number of countries with a national statistical plan that is fully funded and under implementation, by source of funding |
Global trends
No data is available for indicator 17.18.1.
The latest data from 2021 shows that 142 countries worldwide had in place national statistics legislation in compliance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (17.18.2). This is an increase from 132 countries in 2019. 84 countries had a fully funded national statistics plan as of 2021 (17.18.3).
The Nordics
All the Nordics have legislation in compliance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. Apart from Iceland, they also have a fully funded national statistics plan.
No trend assessment of progress is given by the OECD for this target.
Target 17.19
By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries
Indicators:
| 17.19.1 | Dollar value of all resources made available to strengthen statistical capacity in developing countries |
| 17.19.2 | Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration |
Global trends
In 2019, the latest year for which data is available, the total Official Development Assistance (ODA) for data and statistics stood at $662 million, a decline from $674 million in 2016.
There are still large coverage gaps in birth and death registration statistics worldwide. Censuses are also a challenge, with 14% of countries worldwide not having conducted at least one population and housing census in the past 10 years.
The Nordics
All the Nordics fulfil the required target levels in indicator 17.19.2, and have complete birth and death registration data, as well as conducting regular population and housing surveys.
No trend assessment of progress is given by the OECD for this target.
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About the data
The data presented on global, regional, and national trends are from the UN SDG Global Database and the OECD unless otherwise stated.
The assessment of the Nordic countries is based on the findings from a recent OECD report, published in April 2022. The OECD uses a three-tier classification for each target:
- Target is achieved or on track to being achieved
- Progress has been made, but is insufficient to meet the target
- No progress or moving away from the SDG target
In its assessment, the OECD looks at a country's current performance towards a target, and calculates a trend towards 2030 based on recent progress. As such, a country that is close to a target, but trending away from it, will be classified as having "No progress or moving away from the SDG target". Conversely, a country that is currently further away from the target, but trending towards it (and has a high likelihood of reaching it before 2030), will be classified as "Target is achieved or on track to being achieved".
Changelog
- First release September 2022
- Data and text update December 2022