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Strengthening data systems for evidence-based policymaking and SDG monitoring
Objective
To strengthen and expand the capacity of the national statistical system to generate evidence for informed national development planning, effective monitoring of socioeconomic conditions and tracking of SDG progress, and greater accountability.
Overview
In the four years since the 2022 VNR, Somalia has continued to invest in building a modern and responsive statistical system that is aligned with international standards to support evidence-informed policymaking and progress monitoring. Significant advances were made in producing, coordinating and using official statistics, administrative data and sectoral reporting systems. Large-scale household, labour and socioeconomic surveys, food security assessments and census preparations have strengthened the evidence base for national development and resilience planning, and for tracking progress towards the SDGs. Administrative data have also become a key source of evidence, reflecting the growing capacity of government entities to generate, manage and report data for SDG monitoring.
As a result, there was a substantial expansion in SDG data availability, with Somalia reporting on 153 of 218 SDG indicators relevant to the country in the 2026 VNR. The review identifies this as one of the strongest achievements, with data availability increasing from 39.1 per cent in the 2022 VNR to 70.2 per cent in 2026.
Where official national data were not available, the 2026 VNR drew on trusted international datasets that were carefully reviewed and aligned with national data systems.
An online Goal Tracker was developed in 2022 and updated in two instances, providing all national stakeholders with a transparent and interactive platform to track and check the country’s progress towards the SDGs and supporting data coordination. An important feature of the Tracker is the monitoring of financial resources available from different sources including official development assistance and remittances, broken down by SDG.
The SNBS continues to publish detailed statistical reports covering critical development dimensions. In 2025, three reports were published: the Second Governance Statistics Report, which included new dimensions such as data on stabilization and cybercrime; the Environmental Indicators Report; and the Clean and Renewable Energy Indicators Report.
Despite the progress made in strengthening national data systems, Somalia identified continued investment in the national statistical system as one of the priorities leading to 2030. This will be essential to address remaining gaps in:
• The availability of disaggregated data needed to enable the tracking of outcomes across different demographic, geographic and social groups.
• The tracking of development cooperation flows to support legislative oversight and guidance on the use of external resources.