Measuring progress on the Sustainable Development Goals
1. Progress measurement
Measuring and tracking progress with reliable information is key to understanding how the Basque Country is progressing toward achieving the SDGs.
Closely measuring the progress of each indicator not only illustrates where progress is being made, or in which areas progress is lacking and efforts can be focused, but also allows for open and transparent communication on how the Basque Autonomous Community is doing in implementing the 2030 Agenda. The monitoring report can serve as a tool to better understand the success of policies and actions in achieving the various goals. It can also act as a clear signal so that effective, evidence-based policies can be adjusted or developed to help ensure the objectives are met.
2. Methodology
In order to provide a simple and transparent assessment, a methodology has been developed based on the 2023 Progress Chart Technical Note used by the United Nations Statistics Division.
When assessing SDG progress, the normative direction of a data series indicates the desirable outcome for its value. A higher value is desirable for data series with an increasing normative direction; the opposite is true for those with a decreasing normative direction. The desired direction for each indicator or series is taken from the Technical Note on Progress Assessment 2024
An indicator may contain multiple data series and/or breakdowns by different dimensions (such as age, sex, location, etc.). In these cases, only the data from the series and breakdowns that best represent the entire population of the Basque Autonomous Community are selected to assess progress.
The objective set globally by the United Nations is being applied at the level of the Basque Country.
The assessment assigns a score to each indicator. A distinction is made between indicators that have numerical targets for 2030 and those that do not.
2.1 Indicators with target values for 2030
For indicators with target values for 2030 and at least two different data points (one for the baseline, usually 2015, and one for the latest year), a score is assigned by calculating growth rates. First, the actual compound annual growth rate (𝐶𝐴𝐺𝑅𝑎) is calculated between the reference year (b) and the latest year (t) for which data are available:
\[CAGR_{a} = \left( \frac{v_{t}}{v_{b}} \right)^{\frac{1}{t-b}} - 1\]The 𝐶𝐴𝐺𝑅𝑎 from the previous step is then used to extrapolate the expected value (𝑣2030𝑒) for the series in 2030, assuming the current rate of progress is maintained:
\[v_{2030}^{e} = v_{t} \times (1 + CAGR_{a})^{2030 - t}\]Finally, a score is assigned to the series according to the following criteria:
| Score | Condition |
|---|---|
| 3 | $\frac{v_{2030}^{e} - v_{b}}{v_{2030} - v_{b}} \geq 0.95$ |
| 2 | $0.10 \leq \frac{v_{2030}^{e} - v_{b}}{v_{2030} - v_{b}} < 0.95$ |
| 1 | $\frac{v_{2030}^{e} - v_{b}}{v_{2030} - v_{b}} < 0.10$ |
Where:
$𝑏$ is the base year (usually 2015)
$𝑡$ is the last year for which there is data (for example: 2022)
$𝑣_{b}$ is the base value in year b
$𝑣_{𝑡}$ is the value of the last year 𝑡
$𝑣_{2030}$ is the target value for 2030
$𝑣_{2030}^{e}$ is the expected value for 2030
2.2 Indicators without numerical target values
Indicators without target values for 2030, and with at least two data points, are scored by calculating the compound annual growth rate. First, the actual compound annual growth rate (𝐶𝐴𝐺𝑅𝑎) is calculated between the baseline (b) and the last year (t) for which data are available:
\[CAGR_{a} = \left( \frac{v_{t}}{v_{b}} \right)^{\frac{1}{t - b}} - 1\]The indicator is then scored according to the following criteria:
If an increase is desirable:
| Score | Condition |
|---|---|
| 3 | $\text{CAGR}_{a} \geq 0.02$ |
| 2 | $0.005 \leq \text{CAGR}_{a} < 0.02$ |
| 1 | $\text{CAGR}_{a} < 0.005$ |
If a decrease is desirable:
| Score | Condition |
|---|---|
| 3 | $\text{CAGR}_{a} \leq -0.02$ |
| 2 | $-0.02 < \text{CAGR}_{a} \leq -0.005$ |
| 1 | $\text{CAGR}_{a} > -0.005$ |
In some cases, the series values are growth rates (e.g., Indicator 8.1.1: Annual growth rate of GDP per capita). Calculating the CAGR from growth rates would be meaningless, and expert judgment is used to assign scores.
2.3 Progress Categories
The assigned progress categories are described below:
| Score | Category | Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | On track or target met |  |
| 2 | Fair progress, but acceleration needed |  |
| 1 | Stagnation or regression |  |
| - | No assessment |  |
2.3.1 On track or target met
The goal has been achieved or is on track to be achieved by 2030.
2.3.2 Fair progress, but acceleration needed
There has been progress on the indicator, but to reach the target by 2030 it is necessary to accelerate progress.
2.3.3 Stagnation or regression
There has been no progress or regression and it is unlikely that the target will be reached by 2030.
2.3.4 No assessment
In some cases it is not possible to measure progress reliably or objectively:
- When the indicator available for the Basque Country is not aligned with the official United Nations indicator methodology. In these cases, a proxy or substitute measurement is used, but sometimes it does not measure the same thing.
- When there is not enough time series to assess progress.
- When a decontextualized assessment is not possible, given the complexity of the issue. For example, this is the case with indicator 2.c.1, Food Price Anomaly Indicator. This indicator aims to measure a country’s performance in maintaining stable market prices, but when prices rise sharply due to the international situation (for example, in 2023-2024), the country does not have much capacity to maintain prices.
2.3.5 No data available
There is currently no data for this indicator, but various sources are being studied to provide data in the near future.
2.3.6 Not applicable
Certain indicators cannot be applied to the Basque Country for various reasons:
- Not applicable, due to its level of development: For example, indicator 10.6.1 Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations is not appropriate for the Basque Country, since it is not a developing country.
- What is to be measured does not exist or is not significant: for example, indicator 3.3.3 Incidence of malaria per 1,000 inhabitants is not applicable, since it is a tropical disease, non-existent in the Basque Country.
- It refers to a standard or institutional structure that does not apply to the Basque Country: for example, indicator 12.4.1 Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste and other chemicals that comply with their commitments and obligations to transmit information as required by each of these agreements, refers to an international agreement signed by the states, so it cannot be applied to the Basque Country.
- They are global measurement indicators: for example, indicator 17.10.1 Weighted average world tariff.
2.4 Considerations and exceptions
Due to the nature of the data, a number of considerations and exceptions have been defined:
- When the value of the last year meets the target, the goal is considered to have been reached, regardless of the trend in recent years.
- When the value of the last year is close (maximum difference of 1%) to 0% or 100%, this being the objective, it is considered that the target has been reached.
- When there is no data in 2015, the first available year after or before 2015 that allows having at least 2 values is used.
- In the absence of a specified target date, 2030 is assumed to be the target period.
- If the target year is in the past, it is evaluated using the methodology with a target up to the target year (y).
- A minimum of two years of data is required to calculate the progress measure.
- Progress estimates oversimplify reality. Progress needs to be contextualized with other relevant information.
- It takes time for data to reflect the impact of policies; the longer the time series, the better the methodology for measuring progress.
- Binary indicators will be assigned one of these 2 categories:
a. “Target met” if “yes”.
b. “Stagnation or regression” if “no”. - Specific exceptions:
| Indicator number | Indicator title | Target |
|---|---|---|
| 1.a.2 | Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection) | The EU average has been considered as a target for the indicator |
| 5.4.1 | Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location | In order to calculate progress towards the goal of equitable sharing of parental roles and family responsibilities, the ratio of women's time to men's time is assessed, with a desired target of 1 |