AbstractThe influence of international trade on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is multi-faceted. International trade can either promote or hinder progress, thus directly impacting people, economies and livelihoods. Here we explore the relevance of consumption-based proxies, which capture global demand for goods and services, to assess progress towards Sustainable Development Goals. We link these proxies to environmental and social issues for understanding trends in international outsourcing of resource and pollution-intensive production. We undertake a temporal assessment from 1990 to 2018 for the Global North and South to highlight polarizing trends that are affecting progress on achieving Sustainable Development Goals. We conclude that global trade can lead to both polarizing and equalizing trends that can influence a country’s ability to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.