Muscat: The National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) issued a report as part of its series titled “Towards Achieving SDGs 2030”.
The report reviews indicators of the 9th Goal of the Sustainable Development Gaols (SDGs 2030), which requires countries to “build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”.
The 9th Goal comprises 8 objectives equivalent to 12 indicators within the UN global indicators developed by a team of SDG experts. This report covers indicators with sufficient available data.
The report takes insights from 2015-2020 data and surveys from ministries, government departments, the 2020 general census data and specialized surveys, such as the Comprehensive Household Survey.
The household surveys provide a source of information to an indicator that measures the distance in kilometers, and the estimated time between households and basic services in Oman.
The percentage of families in rural areas across the Sultanate represents (21.6%). (96.9%) of village residents have access to paved streets within 5 kilometers or less, and (97.4%) of the same category can reach paved streets in 14 minutes, according to the latest data from the Household Expenditure and Income Survey 2019.
Air transport, on the other hand, is the backbone of modern life for internal and external travel that contributes to the economy. The air transport in the Sultanate witnessed a remarkable increase during (2015-2019), as the number of passengers increased from around (11.3 million) in 2015 to about (17.9 million passengers) in 2019, which comprises an increase of (58.4%).
Air cargo services rose by 74% in the period between 2015 and 2019.
The added value of the converting industry indicator increased in terms of its contribution to the Sultanate's GDP by (18.4%) in the period (2015-2019). Accordingly, the added value of the converting industry per capita in Oman rose from USD1,564.2 in 2015 to USD1,756.9 in 2019.
Data also indicates a slight increase in the percentage of employment in the converting industry in the Sultanate (from 11.6% to 12%) during the period 2015-2019.
As for scientific research activities, their share from the GDP in 2018 was at (0.22%), and now it decreased compared to previous years.
The indicator of the number of full-time research workers per million of population rose by (32.3%) from 2015 to 2018, and the rate increased from (212.5) researchers per million of population in 2015 to (281.2) per million of population in 2018.
In terms of the global cellular mobile networks worldwide, they expanded very rapidly and helped to overcome some infrastructure barriers. The networks were often limited to urban and populated areas.
Data shows that the total mobile phone subscriptions in the Sultanate was 6.4 million in 2019.
Population coverage by 3G internet services through cellular networks hit (99.26%). The population coverage by the band of (LTE/WiMAX) technologies reached about (96.25%) in 2019.
The NCSI is the responsible body for monitoring the SDGs 2030 indicators in cooperation with the government institutions concerned in the Sultanate by providing the necessary data and indicators based on international standards.
At the beginning of 2016, countries around the world officially began implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan, which is a transformative action plan based on the seventeen SDGs that aim to address urgent global challenges until 2030. --ONA
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