India breaks into top 100 of global SDG index for the first time

India has entered the top 100 in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index for 2025, a historic milestone, according to the latest SDG Report published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and reported by PTI. India now ranks 99th out of 193 countries with an overall score of 67.0. This places it marginally behind its neighbour Nepal (85th, 68.6) and Bhutan (74th, 70.5), yet above Bangladesh (114th, 63.9) and Pakistan (140th, 57.0), as quoted by PTI.

Regional maritime countries also performed well, with Maldives (53rd) and Sri Lanka (93rd) both securing higher positions than India, according to the UN SDSN report.

SDG leaders and regional trends

• China leads among major economies in Asia, ranking 49th with a score of 74.4, while the US is 44th with 75.2, as reported by PTI.
• Leading the global table are Finland, Sweden and Denmark, continuing the European dominance with 19 out of the top 20 SDG countries located in Europe, as per SDSN findings.

Global progress and setbacks

The report’s authors, led by economist Jeffrey Sachs, warn that global progress has slowed, only 17% of the SDG targets are on track to be achieved by 2030. Major challenges include armed conflict, socioeconomic vulnerabilities, and countries’ limited fiscal manoeuvring, according to the SDSN report.

Despite this, several SDG indicators are showing robust gains worldwide, including electrification (Goal 7), under-five and neonatal mortality reductions (Goal 3), and broadband access (Goal 9).

Five pressing issues that have worsened since 2015 include: obesity (SDG 2), press freedom (SDG 16), nitrogen pollution (SDG 2), biodiversity decline (SDG 15) and increased public sector corruption (SDG 16).

Asia and beyond: who’s advancing fastest?

South and East Asia continue to lead regional SDG improvements since 2015. Nepal (+11.1 points), Cambodia (+10), the Philippines (+8.6), Bangladesh (+8.3) and Mongolia (+7.7) registered the highest gains in SDG scores, according to SDSN data.

Among other notable progressmakers are Benin (+14.5), Uzbekistan (+12.1), UAE (+9.9), Peru (+8.7), Saudi Arabia (+8.1) and Costa Rica (+7.0), as stated in the report.

Top SDG committers, G20 & OECD insights

In global multilateral performance, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago topped the ranking as per SDSN. Among G20 nations, Brazil leads at 25th, while Chile tops among OECD members at 7th.

The United States fell to 193rd place, dead last, for the second consecutive year, amid its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the WHO, and its announced opposition to the UN’s 2030 Agenda, as pointed out by PTI.

Financing and climate warnings

As world leaders prepare for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (Seville, June 30–July 3), the report underscores that the current global financial system is skewed. It warns that capital flows disproportionately to developed economies, sidelining emerging and developing ones despite their higher growth potential, a reform point raised by the SDSN.

(With inputs from the agencies)