Ireland Ranks 7th out of 14 EU countries on UN Sustainable Development Goals

Ireland ranks 7^th out of 14 comparable EU countries in this year’s Sustainable Progress Index, commissioned by Social Justice Ireland.  The index comprises three dimensions: economy, society and environment.  Ireland is ranked sixth of the 14 countries on the economy index and fifth on the social index.  On the environment index Ireland is towards the bottom of the ranking in 13^th place.   

It is now ten years since world leaders embraced the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, so it is particularly timely to take the opportunity to take stock of progress.  Although there is clear evidence of progress in Ireland, challenges remain.  Ireland continues to underperform in areas such as affordable energy, clean water, climate action, innovation and infrastructure, and gender equality. This is dragging our overall ranking down even though we are performing well in other areas such as quality education, economic growth and employment progress and good health and wellbeing.

The overall Sustainable Progress Index, which includes all 17 goals set out by the UN, concludes that Ireland is in 7th place out of the 14 countries. Countries at the bottom are Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands top the rankings.

Ireland is ranked joint 6th out of the 14 countries on the economy index. Although the record on GDP per capita and GDP growth and the score on employment rate is good - the low score on the economy index is influenced by several factors including investment in Research and Development (Ireland has the second lowest rate of investment in R&D as % GDP in the EU-14), and the need for further policy action with regard to transport, logistics (we score lowest on logistics capacity among EU-14).  These lower the score on this dimension. 

On the social index, Ireland is above the middle of the ranking, in 5th place.  We score highly on goals relating to education (Ireland ranks in 1^st place), peace and justice (we come 2^nd in the ranking); good health and wellbeing (3^rd place) and reduced inequalities (5^th place).  We score less well on goals reflecting gender equality and nutrition. 

Ireland placed 13^th on the environment index.   Significant challenges exist if Ireland is to meet our commitment to the environment goals set out in Agenda 2030.   Ireland’s score has improved on some environmental SDGs, notably on SDG 11 ‘Sustainable cities and communities’, but poor performance on goals relating to affordable and clean energy, responsible production and consumption, and climate change are among the key factors driving the result for this dimension. 

Main findings Ireland

Strengths

• Ireland is in the top 5 for 7 SDGs; ‘Zero Poverty’(SDG  1), ‘Quality education’ (SDG 4), ‘Good health and Wellbeing’ (SDG 3), ‘Good Jobs and Economic Growth (SDG 8)’, ‘Reduced Inequalities’ (SDG 10), ‘Peace and Justice’ (SDG 16) and ‘Life Below Water’ (SDG 14).
• Ireland’s relatively good performance on ‘Peace and Justice’ where Ireland ranks 2^nd   points to Ireland having relatively safe quality of life in our cities and communities with a reasonably good transparent, effective and accountable institutions.
• We continue to perform very well on the SDG for ‘Quality Education’ (SDG 4) where Ireland ranks 2^nd , much as expected. From basic education to tertiary education, Ireland’s reputation for ‘quality education’ is evident, although some consideration should be given to the low rate of adult participation in learning.
• Ireland’s relatively good performance on ‘Zero Poverty’ and ‘Reduced inequalities’ is worth noting (SDG 1 and SDG 10).

Weaknesses

• Ireland is in the bottom 5 for 7 SDGs; ‘Zero Hunger (SDG 2), ‘Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6)’, ‘Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), ‘Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)’, ‘Climate Action (SDG 13)’ and ‘Life on Land (SDG 15)’.
• Challenges lie ahead for progress on achievement of some goals. For example, several of the SDGs reflecting the environment present a less favourable picture of Ireland.
• Clearly, there are pressing sustainability issues that must be addressed, as reflected by Ireland’s ranking towards the bottom of the table for five SDGs relating to the environment; SDG 6 ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’, SDG 7 ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’, and SDG12, ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’, SDG 13 ‘Climate Action and SDG 15 ‘Life on Land’.
• Ireland’s rank of 10 on SDG9, ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, points to the need for further policy action with regard to logistics and broadband capacities. 

Somewhere in the middle

• Ireland is in the middle of the rankings for the remaining SDGs. While certain areas have witnessed progress, it is important that we do not become complacent; there remains a proportion of indicators that are stagnating or progressing too slowly. Continuous monitoring of all the indicators that make up the goals is required in order to fully meet the aims of Agenda 2030. 

Measuring Progress: Sustainable Progress Index 2026 is based on the most up-to-date data available and our indicators are selected to reflect the broad aims and objectives of the SDGs. The report uses 86 indicators across the 17 SDGs.  Our dataset combines the UN Global Indicator Set and the EU SDG Indicator Set.  It is aligned as closely as possible to the official global indicators while also taking account of the experiences of countries in the EU context.   The report is available here.