The Millennium Development Goals were eight international development goals that ran from 2000 to 2015. They came out of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, General Assembly resolution 55/2, adopted at the Millennium Summit in New York in September 2000. The framework carried 8 goals, 21 targets and 60 official indicators under the list effective 15 January 2008.
The eight MDGs were:
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a global partnership for development
The framework expired at the end of 2015, and the Sustainable Development Goals replaced it in 2016. The record was mixed: the extreme poverty target was met five years early, while the universal primary education, child mortality, maternal mortality and sanitation targets were not reached. Each goal below carries its official target wording and the outcome recorded in The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015.
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
MDG 1 held the only headline target the framework met ahead of schedule. Target 1.A asked countries to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day, measured against $1.25 a day in 2005 purchasing power parity. Target 1.C asked the same of hunger.
The extreme poverty rate in the developing regions fell from 47% in 1990 to 14% in 2015, and the global count fell from 1.9 billion people to 836 million. The UN recorded Target 1.A as achieved in 2010. Undernourishment fell from 23.3% (1990 to 1992) to 12.9% (2014 to 2016), short of a halving. See the extreme poverty indicators.
2. Achieve universal primary education
Enrollment rose in every developing region, and the target was still missed. Target 2.A, the goal’s only target, asked that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. It was written about completion, not enrollment, and it said everywhere.
The primary school net enrollment rate in the developing regions reached an estimated 91% in 2015, up from 83% in 2000. An estimated 57 million children of primary school age were still out of school, down from 100 million in 2000, so the target was not achieved. See the primary education indicators.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
MDG 3 had one target, and it measured schooling. Target 3.A asked countries to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and at all levels no later than 2015. Gender equality is the concept. Education parity was what the indicator counted.
The 2005 date was missed and the 2015 date was met. The UN recorded that the developing regions as a whole achieved parity in primary, secondary and tertiary education. In Southern Asia, 74 girls per 100 boys were enrolled in primary school in 1990, and 103 girls per 100 boys by 2015. See the gender equality indicators.
4. Reduce child mortality
Under-five deaths more than halved, and MDG 4 still counts as missed. Target 4.A, the goal’s only target, asked countries to reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.
The global under-five mortality rate fell from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2015, a decline of about 52%. The target required two thirds, roughly 67%. Deaths of children under five fell from 12.7 million in 1990 to almost 6 million in 2015. See the child mortality indicators.
5. Improve maternal health
MDG 5 fell further short of its target than any other goal with a number attached. Target 5.A asked countries to reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio. Target 5.B added universal access to reproductive health.
The global maternal mortality ratio declined by 45% between 1990 and 2013, against the 75% the target required. The ratio stood at 380 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 and 210 in 2013, while births attended by skilled health personnel rose from 59% to more than 71% (2014). See the maternal health indicators.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
MDG 6 was met, and the wording of its targets is part of the reason. Target 6.A asked countries to have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, and Target 6.C asked the same for malaria. Both specify a direction of travel rather than a numeric threshold.
New HIV infections fell about 40% between 2000 and 2013, from an estimated 3.5 million to 2.1 million. The global malaria incidence rate fell an estimated 37% and the malaria mortality rate 58% between 2000 and 2015. Target 6.B set a date, and that one slipped: universal HIV treatment access by 2010 was not reached on time. See the HIV and AIDS indicators. All three diseases MDG 6 counted are passed from person to person, which is what defines a communicable disease.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
One MDG 7 target produced two opposite answers. Target 7.C asked countries to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The two services were bundled together, and they did not move together.
The drinking water half was met in 2010, as the share of the global population using an improved drinking water source rose from 76% in 1990 to 91% in 2015. The sanitation half was missed: 2.4 billion people were still using unimproved sanitation facilities in 2015, including 946 million practicing open defecation. Across countries, 147 met the water target, 95 met the sanitation target and 77 met both. See the environment indicators.
8. Develop a global partnership for development
MDG 8 has no met or missed answer, and that follows from how it was written. Its targets covered trade (8.A), the needs of least developed, landlocked and small island developing states (8.B and 8.C), debt (8.D), essential drugs (8.E) and new technologies (8.F). Most set a direction rather than a dated numeric threshold, and the goal measured what donor countries did rather than outcomes inside developing countries.
Official development assistance from developed countries rose 66% in real terms between 2000 and 2014, reaching $135.2 billion. In 2014, five countries exceeded the UN target of 0.7% of gross national income: Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. See the global partnership indicators.
What happened by 2015
The final assessment is The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015, published by the United Nations in July 2015.
| Goal | Headline target | Outcome by 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halve the 1990 proportion in extreme poverty | Met in 2010. Developing-regions rate 47% (1990) to 14% (2015). |
| 2 | All children complete primary schooling | Not met. 57 million children out of school in 2015. |
| 3 | End gender disparity at all education levels | Met across the developing regions. The 2005 interim date was missed. |
| 4 | Cut under-five mortality by two thirds | Not met. Rate fell about 52%, 90 to 43 per 1,000 live births. |
| 5 | Cut the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters | Not met. Ratio fell 45%, 1990 to 2013. |
| 6 | Halt and reverse HIV/AIDS and malaria incidence | Met on both. The 2010 HIV treatment date was missed. |
| 7 | Halve the proportion without safe water and basic sanitation | Split. Water met in 2010. Sanitation not met. |
| 8 | Build a global partnership for development | No numeric headline target, so no verdict. |
The global poverty result was concentrated. The extreme poverty rate in Eastern Asia fell from 61% in 1990 to 4% in 2015, and Southern Asia from 52% to 17%. By 2011, every developing region except sub-Saharan Africa had met the poverty halving target. The report’s overview describes “uneven achievements and shortfalls in many areas” alongside the headline gains.
How to read MDG figures without getting them wrong
Most MDG citation errors come from the same four places.
The baseline is 1990, not 2000. Targets 1.A, 1.C, 4.A and 5.A all read “between 1990 and 2015”. The goals were adopted in September 2000, so a decade of earlier progress counted toward the results.
“World” and “developing regions” are different series. The widely quoted fall from 47% to 14% is the developing-regions rate. The global rate fell from 36% in 1990 to 15% in 2011.
The poverty line changed after the MDGs ended. MDG 1 was measured against $1.25 a day in 2005 purchasing power parity. The World Bank moved the international poverty line to $1.90 a day in 2011 PPP in October 2015, then to $2.15 in 2017 PPP, then to $3.00 a day in 2021 PPP in June 2025. MDG-era percentages are not directly comparable with figures published after 2015.
One target could hold two answers. Target 7.C covered drinking water and basic sanitation together, and the two halves had opposite outcomes.
What replaced the Millennium Development Goals
The MDG framework expired at the end of 2015. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015, replaced it. Its 17 Sustainable Development Goals took effect in 2016 and run to 2030.
One gap the newer framework closed was disease coverage. MDG 6 counted HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis only, while SDG target 3.4 added non-communicable diseases: cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and chronic respiratory disease.
Those four groups share risk factors and often occur together, which is why high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver disease appear in the same statistics. SDG indicator 3.4.1 counts the deaths, not the conditions leading up to them.
The two frameworks differ in scale and scope:
- 8 goals and 21 targets, against 17 goals and 169 targets
- 2000 to 2015, against 2016 to 2030
- Aimed largely at developing countries, against all countries
Most MDG indicator series ended in 2015. Where an SDG indicator succeeded an MDG indicator, the definition often changed, so the two series are not always continuous. A full comparison of the MDGs and the SDGs sets out which carried over.
FAQ
What are the Millennium Development Goals?
The Millennium Development Goals were eight international development goals adopted by the United Nations in September 2000 with a 2015 deadline. They covered extreme poverty and hunger, primary education, gender equality, child mortality, maternal health, disease, the environment and a global development partnership, across 21 targets and 60 official indicators.
Were the Millennium Development Goals achieved?
Some were and some were not. The extreme poverty and drinking water targets were both met in 2010, education gender parity was achieved across the developing regions, and HIV and malaria incidence were halted and reversed. Universal primary education, the child mortality target, the maternal mortality target and the sanitation target were not achieved.
When did the Millennium Development Goals start and end?
World leaders adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration in New York in September 2000, setting a 2015 deadline. Most targets were monitored against a 1990 baseline. The final UN progress report appeared in July 2015, and the SDGs took effect in 2016.
What is the difference between the MDGs and the SDGs?
The MDGs set 8 goals and 21 targets running to 2015, aimed largely at developing countries. The SDGs set 17 goals and 169 targets running to 2030 and apply to all countries. See MDGs vs SDGs for the indicator-level comparison.
How many targets and indicators did the MDGs have?
The MDGs had 21 targets and 60 official indicators under the list effective 15 January 2008. That list followed a 2007 revision, which added four targets agreed at the 2005 World Summit. The Inter-agency and Expert Group on MDG Indicators, convened by the UN Statistics Division, coordinated it.
Sources
- The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015, United Nations, July 2015
- Official list of MDG indicators, effective 15 January 2008, United Nations
- United Nations Millennium Declaration, resolution 55/2, UN General Assembly, September 2000
- MDG Indicators, UN Statistics Division
- Millennium Development Goals background, United Nations
- Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) fact sheet, World Health Organization, 19 February 2018
- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, United Nations
- Global poverty line FAQ, World Bank
- June 2025 update to global poverty lines, World Bank, 5 June 2025
This page documents the MDG indicator framework and cites the agencies that published the underlying statistics. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Health Organization or any official statistical agency.
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