Introduction

The political declaration, known as the Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, was launched by heads of state and governments at the Summit on Sustainable Development Goals in September 2019. Its aim is to accelerate sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges — from poverty and gender inequality to climate change, inequality, and the financing gap. In the declaration, states committed to working over the course of the decade in ten priority areas, including investing in data and statistics for the SDGs, with a view to closing data gaps and effectively measuring progress towards the targets.

Understanding where we stand at the beginning of this decade and being able to estimate whether the SDGs can be achieved by 2030, is a crucial aspect of planning for the years ahead — and a topic that is attracting growing interest from the international community. Numerous initiatives have emerged from international organizations, research centers, and national institutions to develop and apply various approaches and methodologies. These aim both to assess the current level of progress and to project, based on trends and remaining gaps, the likelihood of achieving the SDGs by 2030.

In this context, the Statistics Division of ECLAC has so far conducted six exercises simulating scenarios and projecting trends for SDG indicators through 2030, progressively expanding the number of indicator series analyzed at the regional level.

The data used for these analyses come from the United Nations Global SDG Indicators Database, including some additional indicators prioritized for the region by the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Although data gaps still prevent a comprehensive analysis of all SDG targets, the efforts of the international and regional statistical communities — and in particular, national statistical systems of member States — have significantly improved data availability.

Results up to 2025 of the regional trend projections to 2030: mixed regional performance

64% of the 132 targets assessed exhibit positive trends, but just 23% are likely to be achieved by 2030. The remaining 41% require accelerated progress to meet the 2030 deadline.

Meanwhile, 36% of the targets are stalled or moving in the wrong direction relative to 2015 values.

Progress on the targets of each SDG is characteristically heterogeneous in the region. The SDGs that are most likely to have at least 50% of their targets met by 2030 are Goal 7 (Affordable and clean energy) and Goal 14 (Life below water).

The SDGs that are least likely to meet that 50% threshold are Goal 2 (Zero hunger), Goal 6 (Clean water and sanitation), Goal 10 (Reduced inequalities), Goal 12 (Responsible consumption and production) and Goal 13 (Climate action).

For Goal 1 (No poverty), Goal 4 (Quality education), Goal 5 (Gender equality), Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Goal 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure), Goal 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), Goal 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) and Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), the majority of the targets are progressing, but many are doing so at an insufficient pace for achievement by 2030.

It is not possible to discern a clear positive or negative trend for the targets of Goal 3 (Good health and well-being) and Goal 15 (Life on land).

In all cases, emphasis is placed on the importance of implementing public policy actions that reinforce the efforts made to date, in order to consolidate the more promising scenarios, accelerate progress on certain targets, and reverse the trends in areas experiencing setbacks.

Latin America and the Caribbean: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets by likelihood of achievement 2030

Methodological aspects:

The methodology implemented in 2025 differs from previous years, primarily in the method of calculating estimates for 2030 and the number of statistical series included. This revision followed a review of the multiple methodologies that the United Nations applies in this variety of analysis.

The outcome of the review, coordinated by the United Nations Statistics Division with the participation of custodian agencies and the regional commissions, was the global adoption of an agreed standard methodology that integrates past approaches. As a member of the group of experts that conducted the review, ECLAC supports the adoption of the new methodology, which it will implement going forward. For details on this process and methodology, see United Nations (2024).

The rationale behind the decision to continue to use the traffic light system in the present analysis —rather than the five categories recommended in the global methodology— is to facilitate the communication of results and maintain continuity with previous reports.

References:

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Latin America and the Caribbean in the Final Five Years of the 2030 Agenda: Steering Transformations to Accelerate Progress (LC/FDS.8/3), Santiago, 2025.

United Nations (2024), “The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024. Technical Note for Progress Assessment” [online] https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2024/Technical_Note_for_Progress_Assessment_2024.pdf.