Purpose

This paper aims to examine the association between sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the micro level and firms’ inclination to sustainability reporting and assurance (SRA).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use global data from 44 countries in the 2016–2021 period and perform the probit and logistic models in testing the hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that socially responsible firms adopting SDGs are more likely to issue sustainability reports and obtain assurance statements. The authors find that the link between firms’ compliance with SDGs and SRA is stronger for firms domiciled in stakeholder-oriented countries.

Originality/value

SRA issues are gaining the attention of regulators, investors, businesses and academics worldwide. Results pertaining to the relationship between SDGs and SRA are robust to alternative measures and several sensitivity tests and, thus, provide policy, practice and research implications.