Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Cote d’Ivoire top performers in sustainable development

The report was launched yesterday by the Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN).

The report said East and South Asia has progressed more on the SDGs than any other region, both since 2010 and since the adoption of the goals in 2015.

By contrast, the three countries that have declined the most are Venezuela, Tuvalu and Brazil.

However, the global average SDG index score has decreased for the first time since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015. The global decline in performance, including in OECD countries, was driven to a large extent by increased poverty rates and unemployment in 2020.

In the report, Bangladesh has been ranked 109th with the overall score of 63.5 in the 2021 SDG index.

Finland has been ranked first with 85.9 score. The four other countries in the top five positions are Sweden (85.6), Denmark (84.9), Germany (82.5) and Belgium (82.2).

In South Asia, Bhutan (70) is in 75th position, Maldives (69.3) in 79th, Sri Lanka (68.1) in 87th position, Nepal (66.5) in 96th, India (60.1) in 120th, Pakistan (57.7) in 129th, and Afghanistan (53.9) in 137th position.