Wondering what the global goals are and whether the world will reach them? Sustainable development goals explained: they are a shared UN plan, and the UN’s latest progress report says progress remains uneven and insufficient.
This guide sits within our wider coverage of global development, and it explains what the goals are, how they are measured and where they stand.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Number of goals | 17 |
| Adopted by | All 193 UN Member States, in 2015 |
| Target year | 2030 |
| Targets on track or making moderate progress (of 139 with trend data) | 36 per cent |
| Targets advancing too slowly | 49 per cent |
| Annual SDG financing gap | Approximately $4 trillion |
The figures come from the UN DESA release on The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 and the UN Türkiye summary of it. They can change as new data arrives, so check the source before you rely on them.
What the Sustainable Development Goals are
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 global goals. According to UN Türkiye, all 193 UN Member States adopted them in 2015 as an urgent call for action to promote peace and prosperity, and countries aim to achieve them by 2030 under the 2030 Agenda.
The goals cover more than one area of life. In remarks at the report launch, the Deputy Secretary-General said the SDGs are social, environmental and economic in nature, according to an automatic transcript of the press conference. She also called Goal 5, on gender equality, the “docking station for every other goal”.
Each year, Member States review a subset of the goals in depth rather than all 17. At the July 2026 forum, UN Türkiye reports that the goals under review were:
- SDG 6: clean water and sanitation
- SDG 7: affordable and clean energy
- SDG 9: industry, innovation and infrastructure
- SDG 11: sustainable cities and communities
- SDG 17: partnerships for the goals, which is a permanent fixture of the review
Our guide to access to clean water around the world looks more closely at the issue behind SDG 6.
How progress on the goals is tracked
The main UN platform for tracking the goals is the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). UN Türkiye says it meets once every year under the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), alongside the annual progress report.
Several mechanisms work together:
- The annual report: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 was released on 7 July 2026 and scores targets using trend data.
- Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs): the UN encourages countries to review their own progress. Almost every Member State has presented at least one since 2016, and 36 States were due to present at the 2026 forum.
- The SDG Summit: held every four years under the General Assembly, it brings together heads of State to agree commitments. The last was in 2023 and the next is planned for 2027.
Data is a quieter part of the story. The UN’s 2026 release says data was available for only half of all SDG indicators a decade ago, while a global database of more than 3.2 million data points now covers nearly every indicator.
Because each year’s in-depth review covers only some goals, the full picture depends on that shared dataset and on national reports. That is why the numbers in the annual report matter more than any single forum.
What the goals have achieved since 2015
The UN’s 2026 release lists measurable gains since the goals were adopted:
- Nearly one billion people gained access to safely managed drinking water, and 1.2 billion to safely managed sanitation.
- New HIV infections fell by 30 per cent between 2015 and 2024, and AIDS-related deaths by 35 per cent.
- Electricity now reaches 92 per cent of the world’s population.
- Internet access rose from 40 to 74 per cent.
- Social protection covers more than half the global population for the first time.
- Women hold 27.4 per cent of parliamentary seats, up from 22.3 per cent in 2015.
- Child labour fell by more than 20 million between 2020 and 2024.
- Renewable electricity capacity per capita grew at a record 14 per cent between 2023 and 2024.
Global unemployment also stood at a near-historic low of 4.9 per cent in 2025, according to the same release. A different yardstick for national well-being is explained in our guide on what is the human development index, which looks at countries from another angle.
Where the goals are falling short
The headline finding is that most targets are off track. Of the 139 SDG targets with trend data, the UN report says only 36 per cent are on track or making moderate progress, 49 per cent are advancing too slowly and 15 per cent have regressed below 2015 baselines.
The same source points to these gaps:
- One in ten people still live in extreme poverty, and the rate is projected to reach only 10 per cent by 2026, just 3 percentage points below its 2015 level.
- Around 2.3 billion people face moderate or severe food insecurity.
- More than 150 million children remain stunted.
- Maternal mortality stands at nearly three times the global target.
- None of the gender equality targets are on track.
- 273 million children and young people remain out of school.
- An estimated 1.16 billion people live in slums or informal settlements.
- Global temperatures in 2025 reached 1.43°C above pre-industrial levels.
Global totals can hide differences between countries. The Deputy Secretary-General said the report masks outstanding progress in some countries as well as serious gaps across regions, according to the press conference transcript.
Why financing is the biggest obstacle
The UN puts the financing gap at approximately $4 trillion a year. The 2026 release adds that official development assistance fell by a record 23.1 per cent in 2025, returning to roughly 2015 levels.
Debt adds pressure. The external debt of low- and middle-income countries reached a record $8.9 trillion in 2024, and as of December 2025 more than 117.8 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, per the same release.
Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed summed up the problem this way, as reported by UN Türkiye: “Many countries are being asked to deliver on promises without the tools to keep them.” She called for reforms that would let international development banks provide debt relief and longer-term financing.
What needs to happen before 2030?
The UN release says the task is to scale up what works. It names these priorities:
- Closing the financing gap through the Sevilla Commitment and reform of the international financial architecture.
- Stronger data systems through the Medellín Framework, so investment reaches the most vulnerable first.
- Accelerating the energy transition.
- Using frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence, for sustainable development.
- Advancing gender equality as a cross-cutting priority and reinforcing multilateral cooperation.
Politics will follow the same path. The latest draft of the 2026 ministerial declaration includes commitments to increase investment in the SDGs and to develop governance frameworks for technologies such as artificial intelligence, UN Türkiye reports. Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua put it simply: “The focus must shift from commitments to implementation.”
Frequently asked questions
How many Sustainable Development Goals are there?
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There are 17. According to UN Türkiye, all 193 UN Member States adopted them in 2015, and countries aim to achieve them by 2030.
Who checks whether countries are meeting the goals?
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The High-Level Political Forum is the main UN platform for tracking progress. Countries are also encouraged to present Voluntary National Reviews, and UN Türkiye notes that almost every Member State has presented at least one since 2016.
Are the goals on track for 2030?
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Mostly not, as of the UN’s 7 July 2026 report. Only 36 per cent of the 139 targets with trend data are on track or making moderate progress, the UN says.
Will the goals simply be replaced if 2030 is missed?
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That is not decided. Ms. Mohammed told reporters, as UN Türkiye reports, that “the day after 2030, for sure, there will be another date that Member States will promise, because the world hasn’t finished its job yet.”
