This report details the progress the world has made towards global development goals and examines the impact of demographic change on achieving these goals.

Executive summary

With 2015 marking the transition from the Millennium to the Sustainable Development Goals, the international community can celebrate many development successes since 2000. Despite the global financial crisis, economic growth was generally strong and robust.

About 1 billion people rose out of extreme poverty. Most developing countries saw solid income growth for the bottom 40 percent of their income distribution. Millions of children who were unlikely to survive their fifth birthday passed beyond these critical years and went on to school in ever greater numbers.

The incidence of preventable diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis is falling. The share of those with access to clean water and better sanitation has risen.

Overall, the Millennium Development Goals played an important role in galvanizing the global development community, and that experience will help drive progress toward achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030