Egypt ascends six spots in Sustainable Development Report 2023 rankings

CAIRO - 24 June 2023: The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development has announced Egypt's improved performance in the Sustainable Development Report for 2023. Dr. Hala El-Saeed, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, explained that the Sustainable Development Report 2023 (SDR 2023) assesses countries' progress towards achieving sustainable development goals and highlights areas requiring rapid advancement.

The report is published by the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the German foundation Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), operating under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General and supervised by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, an expert in sustainable development.

El-Saeed added that the report indicates Egypt's progress in the Sustainable Development Goals Index for 2023, rising six places to rank 81st out of 166 countries included in the report.

This represents an improvement from the country's 87th position in 2022 among 163 countries. Moreover, Egypt's score in the index increased to 69.6 in 2023, compared to 68.7 in 2022, reflecting Egypt's dedicated efforts towards achieving sustainable development goals.

Dr. Mona Essam, Assistant Minister of Planning and Economic Development for Sustainable Development, stated that the international report reflects Egypt's evolving performance in achieving sustainable development goals in 2023.

Several UN goals witnessed improvement compared to 2022, including Goal 4, "Quality Education," Goal 7, "Affordable and Clean Energy," and Goal 17, "Partnerships for the Goals."

Essam emphasized that the methodology of the Sustainable Development Report 2023 provides an assessment of progress made towards sustainable development goals by all United Nations member states. The report includes the Sustainable Development Goals Index, presenting scores on a scale of 0 to 100, which can be interpreted as the percentage towards optimal performance in sustainable development goals.

The difference between 100 and a country's score represents the distance, in percentage points, that needs to be overcome to achieve optimal performance in sustainable development goals. The same set of indicators and performance thresholds are used for all countries to generate comparable scores and rankings.

In recent years, Egypt has demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainable development, implementing comprehensive strategies and reforms across various sectors.

The government has focused on promoting economic diversification, enhancing social inclusivity, and adopting environmentally friendly practices.

These efforts have yielded positive outcomes, contributing to improved performance in sustainable development indicators and reinforcing Egypt's position as a regional leader in sustainable growth.