Published on 28 January 2025

Measuring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda

Various statistical indicators track and measure the implementation of the 17 SDGs contained in the 2030 Agenda.

International indicators

Progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda internationally is monitored using 232 indicators developed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), which is led by the UN Statistical Commission (UN-STATCOM). Each country must report data for these indicators, which were approved by the UN General Assembly on 6 July 2017.

The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) coordinates Switzerland’s data reporting to the UN via the stats_agenda2030 network, which aims to ensure efficient data flow between the Federal Administration and the United Nations and establish clearly defined responsibilities. This reduces the administrative burden while increasing transparency. It is a subgroup of Fedestat and will operate until at least 2030.

Switzerland has opted for a decentralised data delivery model, since numerous federal offices have long-standing direct contact with UN organisations. In Switzerland, around 30 federal units and numerous external actors contribute to producing, delivering and validating data for the IAEG-SDG indicators.

The data is transmitted to the relevant UN organisations (custodian agencies) responsible for the indicators. Each year, around 50 organisations participate in collecting and harmonising the required national data, which is then transmitted to the UN Statistical Division (UNSD) for publication.

Contact: [e-mail]

National indicators

National metrics are needed alongside international indicators in order to provide regular status updates and to assess what progress has been achieved and where further action is required.

The Federal Council also relies on regularly receiving sustainability indicators in order to review and implement the constitutional mandate for sustainable development. The indicator system should:

• facilitate a discussion between societal actors about sustainable development goals,
• track the status of sustainability and its progression over time and identify needed actions,
• inform the general public and political decision-makers about the progress being made on sustainable development and support the early detection of potential problem areas,
• enable comparisons (benchmarking) and leverage the resulting competition to create additional measures so that Switzerland achieves its goals..

MONET 2030

The MONET 2030 indicator system gives an overview of sustainable development in Switzerland, providing a picture of the progress made towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. It also provides data in relation to certain topics specific to Switzerland. It consists of over 100 indicators for the three dimensions – environment, society and economy – which are bundled according to the 17 SDGs.

Further information on MONET 2030 can be found on bfs.admin.ch.

Cercle Indicateurs

The Cercle Indicateurs network serves to measure and compare sustainable development in cantons and cities. The indicator system comprises around 30 indicators for the environment, economy and society. As a national network consisting of the Federal Offices for Spatial Development (ARE) and Statistics (FSO) as well as cantons and cities, the Cercle Indicateurs helps to strengthen and advance the measurement of sustainable development at the subnational level.

Further information on Cercle Indicateurs is available on bfs.admin.ch.