The UN has recommended 36 changes to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators. This was one of the findings of the UN’s 2020 Comprehensive Review Process. Within these four groups, the breakdown of changes amounts to:
- 14 proposals for replacements of existing indicators
- 8 proposals for revisions of existing indicators
- 8 proposals for additional indicators
- 6 proposals for deleting indicators, including the partial deletion of 4.2.1
The UN has detailed more information on these proposals.
Update (08/04/2021)
The planned indicator updates have now been completed, and the current information on the SDG platform is aligned with the UN’s 2020 Comprehensive Review.
The indicators that were revised or deleted as part of the updates have been archived.
As a result of these changes, there is an overall drop in the reporting percentage from 81% to 79%. This reduction is only temporary, and the SDG team is in the process of quality assuring data sources which will fill the new indicator gaps. It is anticipated that the reporting status will be updated with an increased percentage within the next couple of months.
Details of changes are in the following tables.
Table of contents
Goal 1
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 1.a.1: Proportion of domestically generated resources allocated by the government directly to poverty reduction programmes |
|
Deleted |
| 1.a.3: Sum of total grants and non-debt-creating inflows directly allocated to poverty reduction programmes as a proportion of GDP |
1.a.1: Total official development assistance grants
from all donors that focus on poverty reduction as a share of the recipient country's gross national income |
Replaced |
| 1.b.1: Proportion of government recurrent and capital spending to sectors that disproportionately benefit women, the poor and vulnerable groups |
1.b.1: Pro-poor public social spending |
Replaced |
Goal 2
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| New indicator 2.2.3 |
2.2.3: Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage) |
New |
| 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture |
Revision of metadata: Change in “use of biodiversity supporting practices” sub-indicator |
Changed |
| 2.5.2: Proportion of local breeds classified as being at risk, not at risk or at unknown level of risk of extinction |
2.5.2: Proportion of local breeds classified as being at risk of extinction |
Changed |
Goal 3
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| New indicator 3.d.2 |
3.d.2: Percentage of bloodstream infections due to selected antimicrobial-resistant organisms |
New |
Goal 4
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| New indicator 4.1.2 |
4.1.2: Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education) |
New |
| 4.2.1: Proportion of children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex |
It is proposed that the portion of the indicator that measures progress for children between 0 and 23 months of age, which is currently in tier III, be deleted |
Changed / part deleted |
Goal 5
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 5.a.2: Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control |
Revision of metadata: Proxies D and F may be considered conditional measures and therefore would not need to be reported if and when de facto gender equality in land ownership has already been achieved |
Changed |
Goal 6
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 6.3.1: Proportion of wastewater safely treated |
6.3.1: Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated |
Changed |
Goal 7
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 7.b.1: Investments in energy efficiency as a proportion of GDP and the amount of foreign direct investment in financial transfer for infrastructure and technology to sustainable development services |
7.b.1: Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing countries (in watts per capita) (repeated in the proposed replacement for indicator 12.a.1) |
Replaced |
Goal 8
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 8.3.1: Proportion of informal employment in non-agriculture employment, by sex |
8.3.1: Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex |
Changed |
| 8.9.2: Proportion of jobs in sustainable tourism industries out of total tourism jobs |
|
Deleted |
Goal 9
No changes
Goal 10
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| New indicator 10.4.2 |
10.4.2: Redistributive impact of fiscal policy |
New |
| New indicator 10.7.3 |
10.7.3: Number of migrants killed while attempting to cross maritime, land and air borders |
New |
| New indicator 10.7.4 |
10.7.4: Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of origin |
New |
Goal 11
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 11.6.1: Proportion of urban solid waste regularly collected and with adequate final discharge out of total urban solid waste generated, by cities |
11.6.1: Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities |
Changed |
| 11.a.1: Proportion of population living in cities that implement urban and regional development plans integrating population projections and resource needs, by size of city |
11.a.1: Number of countries that have national urban policies or regional development plans that (a) respond to population dynamics; (b) ensure balanced territorial development; and (c) increase local fiscal space |
Replaced |
| 11.c.1: Proportion of financial support to the least developed countries that is allocated to the construction and retrofitting of sustainable, resilient and resource-efficient buildings utilizing local materials |
|
Deleted |
Goal 12
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 12.a.1: Amount of support to developing countries on research and development for sustainable consumption and production and environmentally sound technologies |
12.a.1: Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing countries (in watts per capita) (repeat of the proposed replacement for indicator 7.b.1) |
Replaced |
| 12.b.1: Number of sustainable tourism strategies or policies and implemented action plans with agreed monitoring and evaluation tools |
12.b.1: Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and environmental aspects of tourism sustainability |
Replaced |
Goal 13
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 13.2.1: Number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy/strategy/plan which increases their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development in a manner that does not threaten food production (including a national adaptation plan, nationally determined contribution, national communication, biennial update report or other) |
13.2.1: Number of countries with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans, strategies as reported in adaptation communications and national communications (repeated with a slight amendment in the proposed replacement for indicator 13.b.1) |
Replaced |
| New indicator 13.2.2 |
13.2.2: Total greenhouse gas emissions per year |
New |
| 13.3.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning into primary, secondary and tertiary curricula |
13.3.1: Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment (repeated in the refinement to be made to indicators 4.7.1 and 12.8.1) |
Replaced |
| 13.3.2: Number of countries that have communicated the strengthening of institutional, systemic and individual capacity-building to implement adaptation, mitigation and technology transfer, and development actions |
|
Deleted |
| 13.a.1: Mobilized amount of United States dollars per year between 2020 and 2025 accountable towards the $100 billion commitment |
13.a.1: Amounts provided and mobilized in United States dollars per year in relation to the continued existing collective mobilization goal of the $100 billion commitment through to 2025 |
Replaced |
| 13.b.1: Number of least developed countries and small island developing States that are receiving specialized support, and amount of support, including finance, technology and capacity-building, for mechanisms for raising capacities for effective climate change-related planning and management, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities |
13.b.1: Number of least developed countries and small island developing States with nationally determined contributions long-term strategies, national adaptation plans, strategies as reported in adaptation communications and national communications (repeat of the proposed replacement for indicator 13.2.1, with a slight amendment) |
Replaced |
Goal 14
No changes
Goal 15
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 15.9.1: Progress towards national targets established in accordance with Aichi Biodiversity Target 2 of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 |
15.9.1: (a) Number of countries that have established national targets in accordance with or similar to Aichi Biodiversity Target 2 of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 in their national biodiversity strategy and action plans and the progress reported towards these targets; and (b) integration of biodiversity into national accounting and reporting systems, defined as implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting |
Changed |
| 15.b.1: Official development assistance and public expenditure on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems |
15.a.1 and 15.b.1 (a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments |
Replaced |
Goal 16
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| New indicator 16.3.3 |
16.3.3: Proportion of the population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism, by type of mechanism |
New |
Goal 17
| Old Indicator |
New indicator |
Action |
| 17.3.1: Foreign direct investment (FDI), official development assistance and South-South cooperation as a proportion of total domestic budget |
17.3.1: Foreign direct investment, official development assistance and South-South cooperation as a proportion of gross national income |
Replaced |
| 17.5.1: Number of countries that adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries |
17.5.1: Number of countries that adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for developing countries, including the least developed countries |
Changed |
| 17.6.1: Number of science and/or technology cooperation agreements and programmes between countries, by type of cooperation |
|
Deleted |
| 17.17.1: Amount of United States dollars committed to (a) public-private partnerships and (b) civil society partnerships |
17.17.1: Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure |
Replaced |
| 17.18.1: Proportion of sustainable development indicators produced at the national level with full disaggregation when relevant to the target, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics |
17.18.1: Statistical capacity indicator for Sustainable Development Goal monitoring |
Replaced |