Assessment of Sustainable development indicators

In the Assessment of sustainable development indicators, the Federal Planning Bureau assesses for Belgium the trends of 51 indicators towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, adopted by the United Nations in 2015: Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). This assessment is the continuation of the ones published since 2005 in the Federal Sustainable Development Reports (Act of 5 May 1997 on sustainable development, text in PDF in French and Dutch).

For 26 of these 51 indicators, policy makers have set a target, a precise value to be reached by 2030. For the other 25 indicators, only a desired direction was determined. The assessment result for each indicator is represented by an icon.

 

2023–November Assessment of 51 indicators — summary
Result Trend assessment Total
towards target in desired direction
Favourable 7 9 16
Undetermined 0 14 14
Unfavourable 19 2 21
Total 26 25 51

 

This assessment was made for the report Sustainable Development Indicators 2024 (report available in French and Dutch). More information on the assessment method is provided in that report, annex 7.5.

Previous assessment results are available: Belgian Voluntary National Review 2023 to the United Nations (chapter 6 and annex); report Sustainable Development Indicators 2023 (chapter 2, report available in French and Dutch); 2022 Sustainable Development Report (chapter 2; report available in French and Dutch); report Sustainable Development Indicators 2022 (chapter 2, report available in French and Dutch); article on 2021 Assessment (Trend break needed to achieve all SDGs by 2030); 2019 Sustainable Development Report (in French and Dutch, chapter 1); 2017 Sustainable Development Report (in French and Dutch, chapter 2); 2016 Assessment (in French and Dutch) and 2015 Assessment (in French and Dutch).

 

2023–November Assessment of 51 indicators — details *
* The survey methodology of four indicators was substantially revised from 2019 onwards for greater accuracy. As a result, their data up to and including 2018 are not comparable with those from 2019 onwards. Those indicators are i01, i47, i48 and i49. This break in series could impact the evaluation result, which should therefore be handled with caution.

SDGINDICATOROBJECTIVEASSESSMENT
No poverty Risk of poverty or social exclusion (i01)
Very low work intensity (i03)
Over-indebtedness of households (i06)
Zero hunger Adult obesity (i08)
Meat consumption (i09)
Organic agriculture area (i10)
Good health and well-being Healthy life years (i12)
Premature deaths due to chronic diseases (i15)
Smokers (i21)
Quality education Early school leavers (i22)
Lifelong learning (i23)
Underachievement in reading (i26)
Gender equality Gender pay gap (i27)
Inactive population due to caring responsibilities (i28)
Female members of parliament (i29)
Clean water and sanitation Nitrates in river water (i30)
Nitrates in groundwater (i31)
Water consumption (i32)
Affordable and clean energy Dwellings without adequate heating (i34)
Renewable energy (i35)
Energy productivity (i37)
Decent work and economic growth Unemployment rate (i39)
Youth not in employment, education or training (i41)
Fatal accidents at work (i42)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure Passenger transport by car (i43)
Road freight transport (i44)
Research and development (i46)
Reduced inequalities Risk of poverty (i47)
Depth of risk of poverty (i48)
Income inequality: Gini index (i49) 
Sustainable cities and communities Inadequate dwelling (i51)
Exposure to particulate matter (i52)
Noise pollution (i54)
Responsible consumption and production Raw materials consumption (i55)
Hazardous waste (i56)
Waste recycling (i57)
Climate action Greenhouse gas emissions non-ETS (i60)
Victims of natural hazards (i61)
Contribution to international climate finance (i62) 
Life below water Oil pollution (i63)
Sustainable fisheries (i64)
Natura 2000 protected marine area (i65)
Life on land Natura 2000 protected land area (i66)
Forests with FSC or PEFC label (i67)
Farmland bird population (i68)
Peace, justice and strong institutions Security feeling in public spaces (i73)
Corruption perceptions index (i74)
Trust in institutions (i75)
Partnerships for the goals Official development assistance (i76)
Official development assistance to least developed countries (i77)
Public debt (i78)