Resources on factors
The 18 factors listed below were derived from 700+ factors suggested by an expert panel convened by the project team.
These 18 factors were chosen with a view to identifying large, widely recognized characteristics that have the potential to shape SDG interactions.
This list of 18 is by no means comprehensive, and if you believe other factors warrant consideration, you will have an opportunity to include those in your contributions.
You will be asked to provide an interaction score for a pair of SDGs for a factor you have selected, assuming three different values of that factor: top quarter of countires, middle two quarters, and bottom quarter.
To guide your contributions, the tables below provide information on what defines the top and bottom quarter of countries for the 18 factors.
Economic and social factors
| Economic and social factors | Top quarter of countries | Bottom quarter of countries |
| Per capital income | $15,000 and higher (20 percent above World Bank threshold for high income countries) | $4,000 and lower (World Bank's lower-middle and low income countries) |
| Level of urbanization | More than three-quarters of people live in urban areas | Less than two-fifths of people live in urban areas |
| Gender equity | Women's educational attainment and labor force participation are equal to or higher than men's and parliamentary representation is nearly equal | Women's educational attainment and labor force participation are half or less than men's and parliamentary representation is one-tenth or less |
Physical infrastructure factors
| Physical infrastructure factors | Top quarter of countries | Bottom quarter of countries |
| Energy access | Everyone has access to electricity and clean cooking fuels | Less than three-quarters of people have access to electricity and less than one-quarter have access to clean cooking fuels |
| Water/Sanitation | Everyone has access to clean water and safely managed sanitation | Less than two-thirds of people have access to clean water and less than half have access to safely managed sanitation |
| Transportation | Ports, airports, roads, and railroads never rated low or very low quality by logistics experts | Ports, airports, roads, and railroads rated low or very low quality by logistics experts half the time or more |
| Information & communication technologies | Everyone has a mobile subscription and three-quarters of people or more can access the Internet | Less than three-quarters of people have mobile subscriptions and less than one quarter can access the Internet |
Human infrastructure factors
| Human infrastructure factors | Top quarter of countries | Bottom quarter of countries |
| Governance | In top quarter on surveys and expert assessments that evaluate voice, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption | In bottom quarter on surveys and expert assessments that evaluate voice, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption |
| Social protection policy | Spend more than 15 percent of GDP on social protection | Spend less than 4 percent of GDP on social protection |
| Participation in global economy and institutions | In top quarter on multi-dimensional index of economic, political, and social globalization | In bottom quarter on multi-dimensional index of economic, political, and social globalization |
| Education | Everyone attends secondary school and more than two thirds obrtain post-secondary education | Less than two-thirds of people attend secondary school and less than one-fifth obtain post-secondary education |
Environmental factors
| Environmental factors | Top quarter of countries | Bottom quarter of countries |
| Environmental health and ecosystem viability | Top quarter on index that assesses air and water quality; air pollution and GHG emissions; and status of water resources, fisheries, forests, and habitats | Bottom quarter on index that assesses air and water quality; air pollution and GHG emissions; and status of water resources, fisheries, forests, and habitats |
| Material footprint | Per capita material footprint is 21 metric tons or greater | Per capita material footprint is 3.5 metric tons or less |
Natural resources factors
| Natural resource factors | Top quarter of countries | Bottom quarter of countries |
| Agricultural land | More than half of land area is arable or pasture | Less than one quarter of land area is arable or pasture |
| Forests | More than half of land area is forests | Less than one eighth of land area is forests |
| Fresh water | More than 10,000 cubic meters of fresh water available per person annually | Less than 1,000 cubic meters of fresh water available per person annually |
| Marine and coastal | More than 30 kg of fish captured per person annually | Less than 3 kg of fish captured per person annually |
| Fossil fuel and minerals | Natural resources rents are more than 7% of GDP | Natural resources rents are less than 0.2% of GDP |
Indicators
For participants who may be interested, below are links to indicators that show the values of the key factors listed above for most countries in the world.
Economic and social
Gross national income
Per capita gross national income (purchasing power parity)
Urban population
Urban population as % of total population
Gender Equity
UNDP Gender Inequality Index (GII) (0 to 1 scale, with 1 most unequal)
GII data set (Excel download)
Physical infrastructure
Energy access
Percentage of population with access to electricity
Percentage of population with access to clean cooking fuels
Water and sanitation
Percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services
Percentage of population using safely managed sanitation services
Transportation
World Bank Domestic Logistic Performance Index (LPI)
Domestic LPI data (Excel download, includes results from survey of experts on quality of ports, airports, roads, and railroads)
Information and communications technology
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people
Percentage of population using the Internet
Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people
Human infrastructure
Governance
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (six separate indicators: Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, Control of Corruption)
Social protection policy
Social protection expenditure including health as percentage of GDP (Excel download)
Participation in global economy and international institutions
KOF Globalisation Index
KOF data set (Excel download)
Education
Secondary school enrollment as percentage of population of secondary school age
Tertiary school enrollment as percentage of population of tertiary school age
Environment
Environmental health and ecosystem vitality
Yale Environmental Performance Index (EPI)
Yale EPI data set (ZIP file download)
Material footprint
Per capita material footprint in metric tons
Downloadable from UNEP's World Environment Situation Room
To download, open the Consumption and Production tab, select "Material footprint (Total) per capita" and the desired countries/regions, then click the Submit button
Natural resources
Agricultural land
Agricultural land as percentage of land area
Forests
Forest area as percentage of land area
Fresh water
Renewable internal fresh water resources per capita
Marine and coastal
Fisheries production (as stand-in for available marine/coastal resources)
Fossil fuels and minerals
Natural resource rents as percentage of GDP