UKPSC Prelims 2024 Q54: As per the Sustainable Development Report 2023, what is the

Q: What is the answer to UKPSC Prelims 2024 Q54?

B. Correct — B, 112th. The Sustainable Development Report 2023, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and published with Dublin University Press, placed India **112th** of 166 countries on its SDG Index, with a score of 63.45 out of 100. Finland headed the table with 86.8. That 112 was a climb from 121st in the 2022 edition, and India went on to 109th in 2024 and 99th in 2025. The number belongs to the edition named in the stem, not to India in general. The idea to carry away: **fix the report, the publisher and the year before you fix the number.** Each of the other three options is a real India rank, taken from a different index.

UKPSC Prelims 2024 General Studies Paper-I · Question 54 of 147

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As per the Sustainable Development Report 2023, what is the rank of India?

(a)111th
(b)112th
(c)131st
(d)140th

Answer

Why

Correct — B, 112th.

The Sustainable Development Report 2023, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and published with Dublin University Press, placed India 112th of 166 countries on its SDG Index, with a score of 63.45 out of 100. Finland headed the table with 86.8.

That 112 was a climb from 121st in the 2022 edition, and India went on to 109th in 2024 and 99th in 2025. The number belongs to the edition named in the stem, not to India in general.

The idea to carry away: fix the report, the publisher and the year before you fix the number. Each of the other three options is a real India rank, taken from a different index.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
111th — 111 is India's place in the Global Hunger Index 2023, released in October 2023 by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe: 111th of 125 countries, with a score of 28.7.
It sits one place off the SDR figure and comes from the same year, which is what makes the swap tempting. The GHI measures hunger alone; the SDG Index scores progress on all 17 goals.
(c)
131st — 131 is India's rank in UNDP's Human Development Report 2020: 131st of 189 countries, with an HDI value of 0.645 for the year 2019.
The HDI combines life expectancy, schooling and income per head, and it is a UNDP product. The stem names a different publisher (SDSN) and a different year.
(d)
140th — 140 is India's rank in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2021: 140th of 156 countries, a fall of 28 places from the previous edition.
It is a WEF index on a single theme, gender parity, and it came out two years before the report named in the stem.

Concept

The Sustainable Development Report (SDR) is an annual assessment by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a network set up in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General and led by the economist Jeffrey Sachs.

Its SDG Index scores each country from 0 to 100 across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and ranks them.

It is an academic ranking rather than an official UN statistical release. The UN's own tracking runs through the Secretary-General's annual SDG Progress Report and the Voluntary National Reviews that countries present at the High-level Political Forum.

The year 2023 was the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda adopted in 2015. SDR 2023, subtitled 'Implementing the SDG Stimulus', appeared in June 2023 ahead of the September SDG Summit in New York, which is why its India figure was widely reported.

India also has a domestic scorecard, NITI Aayog's SDG India Index, which ranks states and union territories rather than countries. In its 2023-24 edition Uttarakhand and Kerala shared the top score of 79, ahead of Tamil Nadu (78) and Goa (77); India's composite score was 71.

Key facts

The Sustainable Development Report 2023 ranked India 112th of 166 countries with an SDG Index score of 63.45.
Finland topped the Sustainable Development Report 2023 with a score of 86.8.
The SDR is prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), led by Jeffrey Sachs; the 2023 edition was subtitled 'Implementing the SDG Stimulus'.
India's SDR rank by edition: 121st in 2022, 112th in 2023, 109th in 2024 and 99th in 2025.
The SDG Index scores each country from 0 to 100 across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
In SDR 2023, Nepal (99th) and Bangladesh (101st) were placed above India.
The Global Hunger Index 2023 placed India 111th of 125 countries with a score of 28.7.
The Human Development Report 2020 placed India 131st of 189 countries with an HDI value of 0.645.
The Global Gender Gap Report 2021 placed India 140th of 156 countries, a drop of 28 places.
NITI Aayog's SDG India Index 2023-24 gave Uttarakhand and Kerala the joint top score of 79; India's composite score rose to 71 from 66 in 2020-21.

India's rank: which report, which year

Sustainable Development Report 2023 (SDSN)→India 112th of 166

Sustainable Development Report 2022 (SDSN)→India 121st

Sustainable Development Report 2024 (SDSN)→India 109th

Sustainable Development Report 2025 (SDSN)→India 99th of 167

Global Hunger Index 2023 (Concern Worldwide, Welthungerhilfe)→India 111th of 125

Human Development Report 2020 (UNDP)→India 131st of 189

Global Gender Gap Report 2021 (WEF)→India 140th of 156

One number per report and edition: 112th is the SDR 2023 figure; the other three options are India's ranks in three other indices.

Study next

Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the SDG Index methodologyNITI Aayog's SDG India Index: editions, top and bottom states, Uttarakhand's scoreUNDP Human Development Report and the components of the HDIGlobal Hunger Index: publishers, indicators and India's recent ranksWEF Global Gender Gap Report: four sub-indices and India's ranksThe 2030 Agenda, the SDG Summit of September 2023 and Voluntary National Reviews

Common traps

Reading 'Sustainable Development Report' as NITI Aayog's SDG India Index: the domestic index scores states and UTs and gives India a composite score (71 in 2023-24), not a place among countries.
Carrying a rank across editions: 121 (2022), 112 (2023), 109 (2024) and 99 (2025) are all India's SDR ranks, so the year in the stem decides the number.
Treating a neighbouring number as the same fact: 111 is the Global Hunger Index 2023 rank, one place off 112 and published in the same year.
Assuming the SDR is a UN statistical publication: SDSN is an academic network, and its report is separate from the Secretary-General's SDG Progress Report.

A named report with its year, and India's rank as the answer, with the options drawn from India's ranks in other indices so that a memorised number without its source is not enough.

The same material also turns up as 'which country topped the report', as a publisher question (SDSN, UNDP, WEF or NITI Aayog), and as match-the-pairs lists of reports and ranks.

Related PYQs

RPSC_2016_PRE_Prelims2016_Q622016

Same device: India's rank in a named-year global report (Human Development Report 2015, 130 of 188). Different index and publisher: UNDP's HDI on three dimensions, not SDSN's SDG Index on 17 goals, and a statement-based format rather than a single number.

GEO_GS_2024_Q1142024

Same publisher: the World Happiness Report cited there was issued by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the SDSN that produces the SDR. Different report and task: ordering four countries by happiness rank, not recalling India's SDG Index rank.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which organisation prepares the annual Sustainable Development Report, which carries the SDG Index and ranks countries on it?
- (a)United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- (b)Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
- (c)World Economic Forum (WEF)
- (d)NITI Aayog
Answerb — The SDR and its SDG Index are prepared by SDSN, led by Jeffrey Sachs.
UNDP prepares the Human Development Report, WEF prepares the Global Gender Gap Report, and NITI Aayog prepares the SDG India Index, which ranks states and union territories rather than countries.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which country was ranked first in the Sustainable Development Report 2023?
- (a)Sweden
- (b)Denmark
- (c)Finland
- (d)Norway
Answerc — Finland headed SDR 2023 with a score of 86.8.
Sweden and Denmark completed the top three, and Norway was placed lower; the first position was Finland's.
practice — not a real PYQ
As per the Sustainable Development Report 2024, India's rank was:
- (a)99th
- (b)109th
- (c)112th
- (d)121st
Answerb — SDR 2024 placed India 109th.
The other numbers are India's ranks in other editions of the same report: 112th in 2023, 121st in 2022 and 99th in 2025, so each fails on the year.
practice — not a real PYQ
In NITI Aayog's SDG India Index 2023-24, which two States shared the highest score?
- (a)Kerala and Tamil Nadu
- (b)Uttarakhand and Kerala
- (c)Kerala and Goa
- (d)Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
Answerb — Uttarakhand and Kerala both scored 79.
Tamil Nadu came next at 78 and Goa at 77, so options a and c each pair the leader with a runner-up; option d drops Kerala, which shared the top score.