Summary

The United Nations (UN) conducted its annual assessment of global progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2015, access to electricity has reached 92% of the world’s population, the share of Internet users has increased from 40% to 74%, and renewable energy capacity has grown 2.2-fold. Despite these achievements, overall progress towards the SDGs remains insufficient. Of the 139 targets assessed, only 15% are on track, 21% show moderate progress, 49% have recorded no meaningful progress, and 15% have regressed compared with 2015 levels. One in ten people still lives in extreme poverty, 2.3 billion people face food insecurity, and 2.1 billion lack access to safe drinking water. The main obstacles remain conflicts, the climate crisis and the lack of reliable data. Artificial intelligence can improve the collection and analysis of statistical information, but it also creates risks related to data accuracy. Against this background, the UN emphasizes the need to strengthen the professional capacity of national statistical authorities and ensure national control over digital infrastructure. To accelerate progress towards the SDGs, the UN recommends increasing financing for SDG-related projects, expanding the lending capacity of multilateral development banks and broadening debt-relief measures for developing countries.