Purpose The purpose of the work is to develop a methodology for indicative assessment of the sustainability of economic development. Design/methodology/approach A scientific methodology for indicative assessment of the sustainability of economic development has been developed from the point of view of a systematic (polycriterial, not limited to the goals of sustainable development) approach to its interpretation. The basis of which is the author's algorithm for conducting the assessment. Findings The author’s methodology for indicative assessment of the sustainability of economic development has the following advantages. First, the possibility of a quantitative–qualitative assessment: the methodology offers not only numerical evaluation results, but also recommendations for their qualitative (logical) interpretation. Second, flexibility, taking into account the specifics of developed and developing countries: for them, sustainability indicators are assigned different weights, and each economy can assign its own weights to indicators as necessary. Third, the high level of detail of the evaluation results: not only the overall result is available, but also the individual results for each indicator, which allows you to identify the degree of compliance of the economy with each of the sustainability criteria and conduct an expanded analysis of the causal relationships of sustainable development management. Fourth, universality: the methodology offers a common (basic) evaluation algorithm that can be adapted to each individual economy and each new time period (updated scales, weights). Originality/value As a result of the reality check of the author's methodology of indicative assessment of the stability of the development of the economy on the example of Russia in 2020, it was revealed that it demonstrates insufficient stability and balance, but high balance, flexibility and adaptability. The hierarchical synthesis of its stability was 2.8 points, which indicates unsustainable development, expressed need and significant prospects for its improvement.