The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 shows that since their adoption in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have delivered results at scale—expanding access to clean water, electricity, health care and digital connectivity for billions of people. With less than five years remaining to achieve the Goals, the report provides a candid assessment of progress: meaningful gains have been made across the SDGs, but they remain uneven and insufficient in the face of serious headwinds— from escalating conflicts, slowing global economic growth, climate change, rising debt burdens and declining official development assistance. Without a decisive push to rapidly scale up proven solutions, the promise of the 2030 Agenda risks slipping out of reach. The report emphasizes that the SDGs remain the world’s shared blueprint for peace, prosperity and sustainability and must be urgently returned to the centre of global decision-making. It identifies the priority actions needed to accelerate progress, including increased investment, strengthened international cooperation, expanded access to technology and data, a faster energy transition, greater gender equality, and renewed commitments to peace. The report underscores that the choices made over the next four years will determine not only whether the Goals are achieved by 2030, but also the well-being of people and the planet for generations to come. Key messages 1. A decade into the 2030 Agenda, progress is real but insufficient. A little over a decade ago, the world embarked on a bold effort to fulfil the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With less than five years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 offers a candid assessment of progress: the gains achieved are real and span the Goals, but progress remains uneven and insufficient in the face of serious headwinds- from escalating conflicts and slowing global economic growth to climate chaos, rising debt burdens, declining official aid and beyond. 2. SDG progress proves that purposeful global action transforms lives at scale. Of the 139 SDG targets with trend data, just over a third (36 per cent) are on track or making moderate progress- though these global averages conceal remarkable achievements in many countries. Since 2015, nearly 1 billion people gained access to safely managed drinking water and 1.2 billion to safely managed sanitation. Electricity now reaches 92 per cent of the world’s population, a third of it from renewable sources, and Internet access has surged from 40 to 74 per cent. Social protection now covers over half of the global population for the first time in history. New HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have each fallen by roughly a third; 59 countries have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease; and 134 countries have met the target for reducing child mortality. These are not marginal gains- they are proof that political will, investment, innovation, and international cooperation can transform lives at scale. 3. We can now see more clearly than ever before. Behind these results is an important enabler: data. A decade ago, data were missing for half of all SDG indicators. Today, a global database of over three million data points covers nearly every indicator — allowing countries to better identify gaps, target interventions, and hold themselves accountable. Closing remaining data gaps, particularly by expanding timely, disaggregated data will help reveal who is being left behind. Moving into the final stretch to 2030, this stronger evidence base can help countries better direct their efforts where they matter most. 4. The gains are real — but the gaps that remain are stark. Despite these gains, the broader picture is sobering — and the world has not yet overcome its most pressing challenges. Nearly half (49 per cent) of assessable SDG targets are moving too slowly, and 15 per cent have slipped below 2015 baselines. One in ten people still lives in extreme poverty. Food insecurity — affecting 2.3 billion people — remains well above 2015 levels. Around 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water. More than 150 million children are stunted, and maternal mortality remains nearly three times the global target. None of the gender equality targets are on track. Everyday discrimination, still experienced by one in five people worldwide, continues to constrain human potential. 5. Serious headwinds are compounding the shortfall. Progress is reversing due to a convergence of shocks that transcend national borders and require collective action. In 2025, global temperatures reached 1.43°C above pre-industrial levels, and greenhouse gas emissions hit record highs — yet again. Violent conflict has surged to its highest level in decades, forcibly displacing 118 million people and erasing years of development in months. Meanwhile, official development assistance fell by a record 23 per cent in 2025, weakening the financial foundations the world's poorest countries depend on. 6. The way forward: returning the SDGs to the centre of global decisions. The SDGs remain the world’s most effective shared framework for peace, prosperity, and sustainability and must be urgently returned to the centre of global decision-making. Changing the current trajectory requires action on multiple fronts including financing, technology and data, the energy transition, gender equality, and peace. That means closing the annual $4 trillion SDG financing gap through the Sevilla Commitment and financial reform; harnessing digital technologies, including AI, and implementing the Medellín Framework for data to reach those most at risk of being left behind; accelerating renewable energy; advancing gender equality as a critical driver of progress across all Goals; and putting peace first — refusing to let geopolitical tensions derail multilateral cooperation. 7. A decisive final push can keep the 2030 Agenda within reach. The choices made now on financing, international cooperation, and collective crisis response will echo for generations. The evidence base has never been stronger, and success stories from around the world prove that transformation is achievable. The task is not to discover the path — it is to summon the collective will to take it and resolve to finish what we began. To read the complete report, click here.