This Study of the distances from the SDGs of selected OECD countries is designed to help
governments as they consider developing national action plans, as well as to contribute to SDG
mainstreaming across different OECD Directorates. It leverages the wealth of statistical data collected
by OECD members and harmonised through OECD tools and processes. This booklet updates the
Pilot Study, published by OECD in July 2016, by offering a wider set of indicators and more complete
coverage of the Agenda 2030 targets, as well as a refined methodology for assessing distance to those
targets.
This Study uses the latest information on various indicators available in OECD databases to
establish countries’ distances from individual targets, and presents results for a number of countries.
These starting positions are measured in terms of the distance to be travelled by 2030. This requires
setting end-values for the targets to be achieved by 2030.
Indicators can also be aggregated by the ‘5 Ps’ in the 2030 Agenda: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. Based on this breakdown, OECD average scores are best on Planet, and Partnership, to a lesser extent on Prosperity, with People and Peace lagging behind.
The selected indicators enable only 57% of all the SDG targets to be evaluated, and coverage is unequal across goals and the 5Ps.