The UN’s latest SDG Report 2025 paints a picture of both progress and regression. Of the 17 SDGs launched 10 years ago, only 35% of targets are on track or showing moderate progress.

In contrast, 48% of targets show insufficient progress, including 31% with only marginal gains and 17% with no progress at all. Most concerning, 18% of targets have regressed below 2015 baseline levels. 

Extreme poverty persists, affecting 1 in 10 people worldwide. Recent crises have stalled progress, with the burden falling heavily on sub-Saharan Africa and conflict-affected regions

Despite persistent global shocks—from conflict to climate change, to pandemics—the report notes that millions of lives have improved over the past decade. 

Millions more people, including in Africa, have gained access to electricity, green cooking and the internet. Social protection reached over half of the world’s population, a significant increase from a just decade ago. 

“We are in a global development emergency. About 800 million people still live in extreme poverty, in intensifying climate impacts and in relentless debt service straining the resources that countries need to invest in their people,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at the launch of the report.