Disability Statistics for Tracking Inclusive and Sustainable Development

According to the World Health Organization , in 2021 more than 700 million people in Asia and the Pacific lived with some form of disability, which accounted for 16 per cent of the population. Persons with disabilities encounter social and economic barriers and bias in all aspects of life. Disability statistics enable tracking socioeconomic indicators related to persons with disabilities, therefore understanding better their needs to participate in society on an equal basis and identifying policy gaps to ensure disability-inclusive development.

Within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, disability inclusion in the development process has been increasingly crucial, necessitating the need to improve disability disaggregated data to monitor disability-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators. At a regional level, the Incheon Strategy to ‘Make the Right Real’ for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific, the regional development goal to promote disability inclusion, reinforces the importance of disability-disaggregated data to measure progress against its targets and indicators. Disability data as a critical instrument to advance disability-inclusive development was reaffirmed by the adoption of the Jakarta Declaration on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2023–2032. Underscoring the continued implementation of the Incheon Strategy, the Jakarta Declaration urges regional stakeholders to take measures to close disability data gaps and strengthen statistical capacities.