Sustainable Development Goals Tracker
Is the world on track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals?
3294 charts across 297 topics
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When and why did the average age at which people die increase and how can we make further progress against early death?
Why are children dying and what can be done to prevent it?
What could be more tragic than a mother losing her life in the moment that she is giving birth to her newborn? Why are mothers dying and what can be done to prevent these deaths?
An overview of our research on global health.
56 million people die every year. What do they die from? How did the causes of death change over time?
What is the global impact of disease, disability, accidents, and premature deaths? How is the burden of disease distributed and how did it change over time?
Cancers are one of the leading causes of death globally. Are we making progress against cancer?
A global overview of the prevalence of depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and schizophrenia.
Every suicide is a tragedy. But they can be prevented.
A global epidemic and the leading cause of death in some countries.
The deadly disease transmitted by mosquitoes is one of the leading causes of death in children. How did we eliminate the disease in some world regions and how can we continue progress against malaria?
Humanity has already eradicated one severe disease. Which ones could we eradicate in our lifetimes and how?
Diarrheal diseases are one of the leading cause of child deaths while they are largely preventable. How can we continue to make progress against these diseases?
The infectious disease once killed millions every year. Then humanity eradicated it globally. How was this possible?
Just a generation ago polio paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children every year. Now the world can possibly eradicate it: polio remains endemic in only 2 countries.
Pneumonia is the leading cause of death for children younger than 5 years.
Tetanus is a bacterial infection that leads to painful muscle contractions and possibly death.
Air pollution is a major global problem. This is our overview on both indoor and outdoor air pollution.
Outdoor air pollution is one of the world’s largest health and environmental problems.
Indoor air pollution – caused by the burning of firewood, crop waste, and dung for cooking and heating – is a major health risk of the world’s poorest.
When did obesity increase? How do rates vary across the world? What is the health impact?
Tobacco smoking is one of the world’s largest health problems today.
Who consumes the most alcohol? How has consumption changed over time? And what are the health impacts?
Drug use – which includes smoking, alcohol, and illicit drug use is one of the world’s largest health problems today.
How common is the use and addiction to opioids, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis? What is the impact?
When and why did the world population grow? And how does rapid population growth come to an end?
What can we expect for the future? What determines how large or small the world population will be?
What is the age profile of populations around the world? How did it change and what will the age structure of populations look like in the future?
How does the number of men and women differ between countries? And why?
When and why did the average age at which people die increase and how can we make further progress against early death?
Why are children dying and what can be done to prevent it?
How does the number of children vary across the world and over time? What is driving the rapid global change?
What are the consequences of undernourishment and how can we make progress against hunger and undernourishment?
In many parts of the world famines have been common in the past. What causes famines? How can famines be averted?
How had the availability of food changed over time? How does food supply vary across the world today?
The average height of a population can inform us about the nutrition and living conditions of populations in the past for which we have little other data.
Food is not only a source of energy and protein, but also micronutrients – vitamins and minerals – which are essential to good health. Who is most affected by the ‘hidden hunger’ of micronutrient deficiency?
A varied diet which is rich in nutrients is essential for good health and wellbeing. The diversity and quality of diets varies significantly across the world.
Food needs to be affordable for people, and at the same it is a key source of income for one-quarter of the world’s labor force.
When did obesity increase? How do rates vary across the world? What is the health impact?
Who consumes the most alcohol? How has consumption changed over time? And what are the health impacts?
What are the environmental impacts of food production? How do we reduce the impacts of agriculture on the environment?
Increasing the production of crops per area of land is of key importance for food security, living standards, and decreasing humanity’s impact on the environment.
Meat is an important source of nutrition for people around the world. How quickly is demand growing? And what are the implications for animal welfare and the earth’s environment?
Fish and seafood form an important part of people’s diets. How does growing demand affect fish populations? How does production in aquaculture compare with wild catch?
Once the majority of human labor was dedicated to food production. When and how did this change? What is the global distribution of agricultural labor today?
How is humanity using the Earth’s land? And how can we decrease our land use so that more land is left for wildlife?
Fertilizers supply plants with nutrients that are essential for growth. How important are fertilizers? How does their use vary across the world?
Pesticides are used to protect plants from weeds, fungi, or insects. Where are they used? What is their impact?
The overview of our research on global education.
How did intelligence change over time? And why?
How are demographic, economic, technological changes affecting the future of global education?
Being able to read and write opens up the world of education and knowledge. When and why did more people become literate? How can progress continue?
How do learning outcomes differ between countries? How has the quality of education changed over time?
What are the social and individual returns to education?
Access to education early in life can improve outcomes for the rest of life. How does pre-primary education differ between countries and how did it change over time?
How does access to school differ around the world? How does it between boys and girls? And how did it change over time?
When did access to universities and tertiary education increase? How does it differ between countries?
Books have been at the center of science and the arts for centuries. Their history and relevance is the focus of this entry.
For many, the internet is now essential for work, finding information, and connecting with others. How did half the world get online in just one generation? And what are the challenges ahead?
Who is emitting greenhouse gases? Which countries and which sectors? And what needs to happen to reduce emissions?
Air pollution is a major global problem. This is our overview on both indoor and outdoor air pollution.
Outdoor air pollution is one of the world’s largest health and environmental problems.
Indoor air pollution – caused by the burning of firewood, crop waste, and dung for cooking and heating – is a major health risk of the world’s poorest.
The emission of ozone-depleting gases are threatening the earth’s ozone layer. Global collaboration and regulation aims to reduce the emissions. Are these efforts successful?
Access to electricity and clean cooking fuels are vital for a good standard of living and good health.
What energy sources does the world rely on? What is this energy used for? And how does it change over time?
Solar, wind, hydropower, and other renewable energy sources currently account for a small share of global energy. But they’re growing quickly and can play a key role in tackling climate change.
Coal, gas and oil were key to industrialization and rising prosperity, but their large impact on health and the climate mean that we should transition away from these sources of energy.
What are the environmental impacts of food production? How do we reduce the impacts of agriculture on the environment?
How did global forest cover change over time?
How is humanity using the Earth’s land? And how can we decrease our land use so that more land is left for wildlife?
Where and from which disasters do people die? What can we do to prevent deaths from natural disasters?
The use of plastics has many benefits – it is affordable, versatile, resistant, and can help reduce other forms of waste – especially food waste. However, when poorly managed it can pollute the environment and our oceans. Where does the plastic in our oceans come from and what can we do to reduce plastic pollution?
How often do oil spills happen? How did it change over time?
Clean and safe water is essential for good health. How did access change over time? Where do people lack access?
Access to safe sanitation is essential for reducing deaths from infectious disease, preventing malnutrition and providing dignity. What is the global situation today and how can we make progress?
Freshwater resources across the world are the focus of this entry. How much water do we use? How did it change over time?
Technology is a key driver of change that matters for all the big problems that we consider in this publication.
Technology has been a leading driver of global change – disrupting the way we work, travel, and live. How quickly have different technologies been adopted across the world? Explore global and country-level data and research on technology adoption.
All of today’s rich countries were poor in the past – how do poor countries become rich?
The international poverty line of $1.90 per day focuses on the very poorest people on the planet. How did poverty change over time and how can the world win the fight against extreme poverty?
How are incomes distributed and how and why did the distribution change over time?
What is determining the inequality in incomes, jobs, and wealth between men and women?
Living conditions around the world are vastly unequal and economic differences are a major reason for this. How is this distribution changing?
Why and where do children work? How did child labor change over time?
How many hours are people working? What explains the changes over time and the differences between countries?
What is determining whether women participate in the labor market? How is it changing?
What do governments spend their financial resources on?
Taxes are the most important source of government revenue. Who is paying how much and how do tax systems differ?
How much do different countries spent on their military? How did it change over time?
Healthcare is key to make progress against poor health. How is it financed?
How is education financed? How much do we spend on it? What are the returns?
Self-reported life satisfaction differs widely between people and between countries. What explains these differences?
The HDI is a measure of human development that captures health, education, and income. How does the index vary around the world, and how did it change over time?
Why and where do children work? How did child labor change over time?
How many hours are people working? What explains the changes over time and the differences between countries?
The world population is moving to cities. Why is urbanization happening and what are the consequences?
How many travel for tourism? Where do they go?
Access to electricity and clean cooking fuels are vital for a good standard of living and good health.
Clean and safe water is essential for good health. How did access change over time? Where do people lack access?
How many are homeless? How did homelessness change over time?
Indoor air pollution – caused by the burning of firewood, crop waste, and dung for cooking and heating – is a major health risk of the world’s poorest.
Light at night was once expensive everywhere. In some places people are still lacking light at night, while in other places light became extremely cheap.
Access to safe sanitation is essential for reducing deaths from infectious disease, preventing malnutrition and providing dignity. What is the global situation today and how can we make progress?
Why do countries become democratic? What is the impact of democratisation on people’s lives and international relations?
How common is physical and emotional violence against children? How did it change over time?
What is determining the inequality in incomes, jobs, and wealth between men and women?
How common is corruption? What impact does it have? And what can be done to reduce it?
From freedom of the press to racism, this entry presents an overview of quantitative measures of human rights.
How common is physical and emotional violence against children? How did it change over time?
Where are people dying from homicides? How did the homicide rate change over time?
How common was violence in the distant past?
How much do different countries spent on their military? How did it change over time?
The attacks of terrorists receive a lot of attention from the media and often dominate the public discourse. How many people die from these attacks and how did it change over time?
The world’s nuclear powers possess in total 10,145 nuclear warheads. These weapons have the capacity to kill hundreds of millions of people directly, and billions due to subsequent effects on agriculture.
Peacekeeping aims to help countries transition from conflict towards peace. How have peacekeeping operations and forces changed over time? See global data on peacekeeping activities.
The organized killings targeted at particular groups for their ethnicity, religion or political belief killed many millions.