Sustainable development indexes
Our country guides display a ranking of the country in various indexes. The countries included and their scores are continually evolving so not all index ranks are available for all countries. We’ll keep updated as best we can! Here’s what they mean:
UN Sustainable Development Report (SDG Index)
This shows the overall performance of all 193 UN Member States. Countries are ranked by their overall score, which measures the total progress towards achieving all 17 SDGs.
(further detailed scores available can be interpreted as a percentage of SDG achievement. A score of 100 indicate that all SDGs have been achieved). more
Human Development Index (HDI)
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and having a decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions.
The statistical composite index looks at life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed for adults aged 25 years and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and gross national income per capita indicators, used to rank countries into four tiers of human development.
A country scores a higher level of HDI when the lifespan is higher, the education level is higher, and the gross national income GNI (PPP) per capita is higher. It has been used to measure a country’s development by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Human Development Report Office.
The 2010 Human Development Report introduced an inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), while the simple HDI can be viewed as an index of ‘potential’ human development (or the maximum level of HDI) that could be achieved if there was no inequality, thus what we use here.
The HDI can be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level of GNI per capita can end up with different human development outcomes. These contrasts can stimulate debate about government policy priorities.
The HDI simplifies and captures only part of what human development entails. It does not reflect on inequalities, poverty, human security, empowerment, etc.
The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. more
Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI)
The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 to benchmark progress towards gender parity and compare countries’ gender gaps across four dimensions: economic opportunities, education, health and political leadership.
The goal of the report is to offer a consistent annual metric for the assessment of progress over time. Using the methodology introduced in 2006, the index and the analysis focus on benchmarking parity between women and men across countries and regions.
To ensure a global representation of the gender gap, the report aims to cover as many economies as possible. For a country to be included, it must report data for a minimum 12 of the 14 indicators that comprise the index. We also aim to include the latest data available, reported within the last 10 years. Country reporting therefore may drop on and off. Thus far, 102 countries have been covered in all editions since the inaugural report in 2006. more
The Red List Index (RLI)
The IUCN Red List Index shows trends in overall extinction risk for species, and is used by governments to track their progress towards targets for reducing biodiversity loss.
Due to increasing assessment efforts by IUCN and its Partners since 1996, helping refine understanding, rather than showing actual species numbers, the Index shows trends of genuine improvements or deteriorations in the status of groups of species of sufficient magnitude to qualify for listing in more threatened or less threatened Red List Categories. more
Climate Change Performance Index
The Climate Change Performance Index is a scoring system designed by German environmental and development organisation Germanwatch e.V. to enhance transparency in international climate politics. On the basis of standardised criteria, the index evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 63 countries and the EU (status 2022), which are together responsible for more than 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The CCPI was first published in 2005 and an updated version is presented at the UN Climate Change Conference annually. In 2017, the underlying methodology of the CCPI was revised and adapted to the new climate policy framework of the Paris Agreement from 2015. The CCPI was extended in order to include the measurement of a country’s progress towards the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the country’s 2030 targets.
The national performances are assessed based on 14 indicators in the following four categories:
1. GHG emissions (weighting 40%)
2. Renewable energy (weighting 20%)
3. Energy use (weighting 20%)
4. Climate policy (weighting 20%)
The three categories “GHG emissions”, “renewable energy” and “energy use” are each defined by four equally weighted indicators: (1) current level, (2) recent developments (5-year trend), (3) 2 °C compatibility of the current performance, and (4) 2 °C compatibility of 2030 target, resulting in 12 indicators.
Two further ‘climate policy’ indicators measure the country’s performance regarding its national climate policy framework and its implementation, and international climate diplomacy, assessed annually by research with climate change experts from non-governmental organisations, universities and think tanks within the countries evaluated. more