The silent barrier: exploring data availability in Small Island Developing States.

Objective: To quantify three aspects of data-related developmental progress across 57 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) recognized by the United Nations: statistical capacity measured using the Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI), data availability using the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators, and gender-stratified indicators.

Methods: SIDS as a single country group were compared with other World Bank regions, using SPI, availability of SDG metrics, and availability of gender-stratified metrics. Using population size as a proxy for "smallness," its association with data capacity and availability was modeled.

Results: SPI among SIDS was lower than in any world region - broadly equivalent to Sub-Saharan Africa. Two-thirds of SDG indicators were available for SIDS in 2022; other world regions having between 71% and 87% availability. One-third of gender-stratified indicators were available for SIDS in 2022; other world regions having between 58% and 68% availability. Population size was strongly associated with each outcome, with SIDS having a statistical capacity 18.0 percentage points lower than other countries [95% CI (8.5, 27.4)], SDG data availability 17.4 percentage points lower [95% CI (13.1, 21.7)], and gender-stratified indicator availability 28.8 percentage points lower [95% CI (24.5, 33.0)].

Conclusions: As global demand and associated rewards for electronic data increase, our analysis highlights the challenges introduced by island "smallness" in the global push for digital transformation. Regional cooperation mechanisms, sustained international support, and systematic monitoring of data availability are urgently required to monitor capacity development.