Tunisia had a population of 12,348,573 in 2025, according to the World Bank. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) look different in every country. This article collects verified indicators for Tunisia, each with its year, as context for the work of universities such as the University of Tunis El Manar (UTM). These are background figures from different years and sources, not a measure of any university’s contribution.
Selected indicators
All values are from the World Bank unless stated.
| SDG | Indicator | Value (year) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | National poverty rate | 16.6% (2021); rural 24.8%, urban 12.7% |
| 3 | Life expectancy at birth | 76.7 years (2024) |
| 3 | Under-5 mortality | 12.1 per 1,000 live births (2024) |
| 4 | Tertiary gross enrolment | 38.1% (2023); women 49.4%, men 27.4% |
| 5 | Seats held by women in parliament | 15.8% (2025) |
| 5 | Female labour force participation | 26.5% (2025) |
| 6 | Renewable internal freshwater per person | 346 cubic metres (2022) |
| 6 | Safely managed drinking water | 65.0% of the population (2024) |
| 7 | Renewables in electricity output | 2.8% (2021) |
| 8 | Unemployment (ILO modelled estimate) | 15.1% (2025); youth aged 15-24: 38.1% |
| 9 | Research and development spending | 0.75% of GDP (2019) |
| 13 | CO2 emissions per person, excluding land use | 2.62 tonnes (2024) |
| 14 | Marine protected areas | 1.1% of territorial waters (2025) |
| 15 | Forest area | 4.4% of land area (2024) |
What the figures show
People and work. The World Bank identifies the Northwest and Center-West as the regions with the highest poverty, and rural poverty is about twice urban poverty. Unemployment was about 15% in 2025, and the youth rate was far higher. Women’s tertiary enrolment is well above men’s, yet female labour force participation is 26.5% and women hold 15.8% of parliamentary seats.
Water and climate. Annual freshwater withdrawals equalled 92.1% of internal resources in 2022. The UN reports that water stress in Northern Africa and Western Asia rose 12% from 2015, with many countries above 75% critical stress. MedECC’s first Mediterranean Assessment Report states that the Mediterranean Basin warmed by 1.5 degrees C when the globe warmed by 1 degree C, and that 180 million people in the region suffer from water scarcity.
Energy. Access to electricity was 100% in 2024 and renewables were 11.6% of final energy consumption in 2021. The Ecofin Agency reports that renewables reached about 9% of the power mix in April 2026, up from 3.1% in 2022, against national targets of 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2035.
Overall progress. L’Economiste Maghrebin reported that Tunisia’s SDG Index score fell from 71.4 in 2021 to 70.1 in 2022, ranking 60th worldwide and 2nd in Africa.
How universities such as UTM contribute
Universities contribute through teaching, research, partnerships and their own operations. UTM’s published material gives examples that match the indicators above.
Water. The Faculty of Sciences of Tunis took part in the Horizon 2020 project MADFORWATER on wastewater treatment and reuse in agriculture, with an EU contribution of EUR 149,937.50 to the faculty. See the SDG 6 report page.
Gender equality. UTM is a partner of the Erasmus+ project WE4LEAD on women’s empowerment for leadership and equity in higher education, coordinated by Aix-Marseille University. See the SDG 5 report page.
Climate. UTM has published targets for Scopes 1, 2 and 3, summarised in UTM’s carbon neutrality roadmap, and the SDG 13 report page covers its climate activity.
Partnerships. The European Commission’s 2020 factsheet reports that Erasmus+ mobility between 2015 and 2020 moved 5,180 students and staff from Tunisia to Europe and 2,622 to Tunisia. See the SDG 17 report page.
The 2026 SDG reports list UTM’s activity for all 17 goals.
Sources
- World Bank: Tunisia overview
- World Bank WDI: Population, total – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Life expectancy at birth – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Mortality rate, under-5 – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: School enrollment, tertiary, female (% gross) – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Labour force participation rate, female – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Annual freshwater withdrawals (% of internal resources) – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: People using safely managed drinking water services – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Access to electricity – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Renewable energy consumption (% of final energy consumption) – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Renewable electricity output – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Unemployment, total (modeled ILO estimate) – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Unemployment, youth total (modeled ILO estimate) – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: CO2 emissions excluding LULUCF per capita – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) – Tunisia
- World Bank WDI: Forest area (% of land area) – Tunisia
- United Nations: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025, Goal 6
- MedECC: 1st Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1), main results
- Ecofin Agency: Tunisia more than doubles renewable share in power mix in two years
- L'Economiste Maghrebin: Indice de realisation des ODD, la Tunisie recule de 1,3 point
- CORDIS: MADFORWATER, grant 688320
- Antonine University: UA marks the closing of the WE4LEAD project
- European Commission: Erasmus+ for higher education in Tunisia (factsheet 2020)