Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39875793›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

The disparities and development trajectories of nations in achieving the sustainable development goals.

Fengmei Ma, Heming Wang, Asaf Tzachor, César A Hidalgo, Heinz Schandl, Yue Zhang, Jingling Zhang, Wei-Qiang Chen, Yanzhi Zhao, Yong-Guan Zhu and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. The Potential ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Fengmei MaKey Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 335400, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3233-625X
Heming WangCenter for Collective Learning, CIAS, Corvinus University of Budapest, Közraktár u. 4-6, 1093, Budapest, Hungary. wanghm@mail.neu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3487-0912
Asaf TzachorSchool of Sustainability, Reichman University (IDC Herzliya), Herzliya, 4610101, Israel. atzachor@runi.ac.il.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4032-4996
César A HidalgoCenter for Collective Learning, CIAS, Corvinus University of Budapest, Közraktár u. 4-6, 1093, Budapest, Hungary.
Heinz SchandlCommonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6399-4231
Yue ZhangState Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Eco-Industry, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China.
Jingling ZhangLEREPS - Laboratoire d'Etude et de Recherche sur l'Economie, les Politiques et les Systèmes Sociaux; Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP], Toulouse, 31000, France.
Wei-Qiang ChenKey Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 335400, China. wqchen@iue.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7686-2331
Yanzhi ZhaoInstitute of Carbon Neutrality Technology and Policy, Shenyang University, Shenyang, 110044, China.
Yong-Guan ZhuKey Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 335400, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3861-8482
Bojie FuState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9920-9802

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 52070034National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 52470207National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 71961147003
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a comprehensive framework for societal progress and planetary health. However, it remains unclear whether universal patterns exist in how nations pursue these goals and whether key development areas are being overlooked. Here, we apply the product space methodology, widely used in development economics, to construct an 'SDG space of nations'. The SDG space models the relative performance and specialization patterns of 166 countries across 96 SDG indicators from 2000 to 2022. Our SDG space reveals a polarized global landscape, characterized by distinct groups of nations, each specializing in specific development indicators. Furthermore, we find that as countries improve their overall SDG scores, they tend to modify their sustainable development trajectories, pursuing different development objectives. Additionally, we identify orphaned SDG indicators - areas where certain country groups remain under-specialized. These patterns, and the SDG space more broadly, provide a high-resolution tool to understand and evaluate the progress and disparities of countries towards achieving the SDGs.

Identifiers

PMID39875793
PMCPMC11775216

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.