STAT/05/40

22 March 2005

EU sustainable development strategy
Sustainable development in figures
120 indicators available on-line on the Eurostat website

To coincide with the European Council meeting of 22 and 23 March 2005, which will cover, amongst other topics, the revision of the sustainable development strategy adopted by the European Union in Gothenburg in 2001, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, is making available to all users on its website¹ the sustainable development indicators recently adopted by the European Commission². Some 120 indicators are currently available, for the most part since 1990. They cover Europe as a whole as well as the EU Member States, the Candidate Countries and the members of the European Economic Area.

The indicators have been developed with the help of national experts. They reflect the various priorities adopted in Gothenburg (climate change, public health, management of natural resources, transport, ageing society, social exclusion and poverty) and subsequently in Barcelona in 2002 (global partnership for sustainable development), as well as the commitments which the EU made at the Johannesburg summit on sustainable development, again in 2002 (patterns of production and consumption, good governance).

Depending on the data available, the indicators show the changes seen since 1990 at both European and national level. They thus shed light on the nature of the problems described in the EU sustainable development strategy and will be used to monitor the implementation of the strategy. This information is therefore of vital significance for policy-makers and also for anyone interested in sustainable development issues.

The indicators are presented in the form of predefined tables, together with explanatory text on the methodology used, and will be regularly updated. The data mainly come from the national statistical offices, but also from other available sources (Commission services, national administrative sources, non-governmental organisations, research projects). Commission services and the European Statistical System will continue to develop new indicators and to improve the quality of existing indicators.

Some examples of the indicators which can be found on the Eurostat website are shown below.

1. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/sustainabledevelopment

1. See the Communication from Mr Almunia adopted by the Commission on 9 February 2005: SEC/2005/161 final.

List of headline sustainable development indicators
Data for EU25

e: Eurostat estimate
f: forecast
p: provisional

1. The annual percentage change of GDP per inhabitant at constant 1995 prices.
2. Data for EU15 only.
3. The share of persons with an equivalised disposable income below the risk-of-poverty threshold, which is set at 60% of the national median equivalised disposable income (after social transfers).
4. The ratio between the total number of elderly persons of an age when they are generally economically inactive (aged 65 and over or aged 60 and over depending on the context) to the number of persons of working age (from 15 to 64 or from 20 to 59 depending on the context). The Eurostat forecasts for this ratio are 27.0% for 2010, 31.7% for 2020 and 47.2% for 2050.
5. The number of years that a person at birth is expected to live a healthy life.
6. The index of greenhouse gas emissions (in CO₂ equivalents) according to Kyoto Protocol / EU Council Decision for 2008-2012. Source: European Environment Agency, European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change.
7. The total amount of energy necessary to satisfy domestic needs.
8. The index of material consumed by EU Member States. Domestic Material Consumption equals Domestic Material Input (domestic extraction plus extra-EU imports) minus extra-EU exports, expressed as the weight of dry matter.
9. An aggregated index of population estimates for a selected group of breeding bird species dependent on agricultural land for nesting or feeding. Source: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, European Bird Census Council and Birdlife International.
10. The share of the catch coming from stocks that have been assessed to be outside safe biological limits. In general terms, it is considered that a stock is within safe biological limits if its current biomass is above the value corresponding to a precautionary approach advocated by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Source: DG Fish.
11. This sum of the energy used for transport, covering the consumption in all types of transportation modes, i.e., rail, road, air transport and inland navigation. Energy used for pipeline transport is excluded. The main fuels covered are oil products, electricity and small quantities of gases and biofuels.
12. Source: Eurobarometer survey. Data from the survey of the month of May, except 2003 (April) and 2004 (March)
13. The net disbursements for Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the DAC (Development Assistance Committee) countries, as a percentage of Gross National Income. ODA consists of net disbursements and commitments that are undertaken by the official sector with the purpose of promoting development in the recipient countries. Source: