Abstract:

Sustainable development is a concept created to address the awareness of relationships between important elements such as human and economic development, political structures, population, and welfare levels. The Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network prepare and publish the Sustainable Development Goals Report that helps states to achieve their sustainable development goals and evaluate their progress. The relevant research report provides information on which problems countries should prioritize in achieving the sustainable development goals by the year 2030. The main objective of the study is to theoretically examine the Sustainable Development Goals Index consisting of 17 goals and to assess the changes that occurred before and after the Covid-19 pandemic using statistical methods. In the study, Multidimensional Scaling Analysis is utilized to calculate the index for European Union member countries and Turkey. For the analysis, data for the year 2019 is used for the period before the Covid-19 pandemic, and data for the year 2022 is used for the period after the Covid-19 pandemic. In the research, both countries and variables related to the Sustainable Development Goals Index are separately examined based on their similarities. Among the variables, the most prominent goals that stand out are socio-economic goals such as poverty eradication, quality of life, and gender equality. When analyzing countries, the most prominent and leading countries before and after the pandemic are identified as Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Luxembourg, which hold significant positions in the world economy.

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