Significant progress in the area of health and well-being, but unfavourable developments in the distribution of income between rich and poor in the EU – these are the main results of the most recent monitoring report on sustainable development published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. The report analyses how the EU has progressed towards the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the past 5 to 15 years, on the basis of official European statistics. Spanning across the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development, the SDGs refer to topics such as poverty and inequalities, health and well-being, education, and the sustainable use of resources and ecosystems.

The Institute for Managing Sustainability has been analysing the sustainable development of the EU on behalf of Eurostat since 2007. Markus Hametner, Mariia Kostetckaia and Renate Ruech coordinated the overall preparation of the 2018 monitoring report and were in particular responsible for drafting the analyses on the topics economic growth and employment, inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, sustainable consumption and production, and peace and justice. The analysis of the Eurostat data for the past 5 years shows that the EU has made considerable progress in the area of health and well-being, while only moderate to no progress was achieved regarding terrestrial ecosystems, innovation and transport. The goal on “reducing inequalities” has even shown an overall unsustainable trend, with increasing income inequalities within EU Member States.

The report is available for download from the Eurostat website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-statistical-books/-/KS-01-18-656