Fig. 8: The SDG space and indicator performance for four representative countries in 2022.

Panels a, b, Ethiopia (Stage 1). Panels c, d, India (Stage 2). Panels e, f, China (Stage 3). Panels g, h, United States (Stage 4). In panels a, c, e, g, blue nodes represent the top 20 SDG indicators by revealed comparative advantage (RCA) values, while red nodes represent the bottom 20. Note: Fig. 8 displays only the top and bottom 20 SDG indicators based on RCA values; the remaining indicators are not highlighted. The size of each node corresponds to the absolute RCA value. Countries are evenly divided into four stages according to their absolute score rankings: Stage 1 (Primary stage), Stage 2 (Low medium stage), Stage 3 (High medium stage), and Stage 4 (Advanced stage). Stage 4 is further divided into two halves to identify the top 20 increasing and decreasing indicators in RCA for the USA (in the first half of Stage 4) between its current stage and the next stage (see Supplementary Table 1). In panels b, d, f, h, scatter diagrams are divided into four areas by the lines at RCA = 0 and the global average SDG score of 63 in 2022. Area I: Countries with high RCA and SDG Scores for these indicators have reached a relatively ideal situation. Area II: Countries with high RCA but low SDG scores for these indicators face relative difficulties in improving them, likely due to low global averages for these indicators. Area III: Countries with low RCA and SDG Scores for these indicators show both relative and absolute underperformance, indicating that these indicators should be prioritized for improvement. Area IV: Countries with low RCA but relatively high SDG scores for these indicators demonstrate poor relative performance but strong absolute performance.