The National Statistics Office published the first edition of a publication titled 'Sustainable Development in Malta: Statistical Information on the 2030 Agenda in Malta - 2021.'
The publication puts together all existing data related to Malta and aligns them with the Sustainable Development targets and indicators.
NSO Chairman Albert Leone Ganado said that the statistical report is on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Malta.
The report reads that all 17 of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are applicable to Malta.
The Director General of the NSO, Etienne Caruana, says that the report documents the headway made in the country's implementation of the SDGs.
For the past year the NSO has been working to identify existing data sources and statistical products (national and international) that are compliant with the methodologies of the UN Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) framework. Moreover, to reduce the data-gaps the NSO has also identified other data and statistical products, which although not in conformity with the methodology of the SDIs are still relevant for the monitoring of progress towards achieving the SDG targets. The NSO has also identified other national statistics that can supplement the UN indicators and proxies with additional information relevant for a Maltese context.
The results of these processes are reflected in the report. This publication collates all existing data related to Malta, and presents them as statistics related to the monitoring of the Sustainable Development targets.
The NSO said that 45% of Malta-related statistics are produced in line, or similar, to the methodologies prepared by the UN Statistics Division, international organisations and custodian agencies in charge of the monitoring of the SDGs. 18% of SDIs are covered with other statistical information that can be used as proxies to the official SDI framework. 37% of the SDIs framework are not addressed, directly or indirectly, with existing data.
The NSO said that 50.4% of the indicators presented in the publication show improvement in relation to the respective targets when compared to 2010 and taking also into consideration fluctuations in the trend between 2010 and 2019. "21.3% of the indicators presented in the publication show worsening in relation to the respective targets when compared to 2010 and taking also into consideration fluctuations in the trend between 2010 and 2019. 14.3% of the indicators presented in the publication show no substantial change when compared with 2010 data. In view of limited longitudinal data, 14% of the data presented cannot be used to assess the extent of progress towards the respective SDG targets."
As an example of the data presented, the first SDG is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. It includes a number of targets. One of the targets is to, by 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than €1.25 a day. The assessment of the data used shows that the percentage of the severely materially deprived is improving in relation to the SDG target. However, the percentage of the population at risk of poverty is worsening in relation to the SDG target.
Another target for this SDG is to, by 2030, "ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance." Three points of data were used by the NSO here. It noted that the share of persons living in overcrowded households, as well as the percentage of households having neither a bath, nor a shower in their dwelling has seen improvement in relation to the SDG target. However, the share of the total population considering their dwelling as too dark is worsening in relation to the SDG target.
The document provides similar information for every SDG.
See the full report here.