Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

These 10 countries are closest to achieving gender equality

Gender parity gender gap Iceland

Iceland is a shining example on gender parity once again. Image: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Rosamond Hutt
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
  • Iceland has been the frontrunner on the Global Gender Gap Index for 11 years in a row. It’s followed by Nordic neighbours Norway, Finland and Sweden.
  • The latest figures show the global gender gap narrowed slightly to 68.6%. But gender equality is still almost a century away at the current pace of change.
  • The United States is 53rd in the ranking, a drop of two places. China is down three to 106th.

Iceland has once again held on to the top spot in the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap Index.

For 11 consecutive years the Nordic nation, with a population of just over 360,000, has been the frontrunner in the index, which benchmarks countries according to how close they are to reaching gender equality.

Have you read?

Iceland has closed almost 88% of its gender gap and increased its lead over second-ranked Norway.

The World Economic Forum Gender Gap Top 10
Iceland leads the way at gender parity Image: World Economic Forum

A century away

The latest figures indicate an overall positive direction of travel.

The global gender gap – which is measured across four key areas, or subindexes: health, education, work and politics – has narrowed slightly to 68.6%. The average gap left to close is now 31.4%, compared to 32% last year.

But there is still an excruciatingly long wait for gender equality: it will take 99.5 years to achieve full parity between men and women at the current rate of change.

Loading...

Best performers

The majority of countries made strides towards parity in the last 12 months – some moving faster than others. The 16 countries that make up the index’s top 10% recorded an improvement of more than 3.3% year-on-year.

Since the report began in 2006, Nordic countries have frequently monopolized the top spots in the ranking, and 2020 is no exception. Just below second-placed Norway are Finland and Sweden.

In fifth place is Nicaragua, followed by New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, Rwanda and Germany.

The most-improved countries are Albania, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico and Spain.

The United States is 53rd this year, a fall of two places. The world’s second-largest economy, China, is down three to 106th.

Looking at the data by region, Western Europe has made the most progress in closing the gender gap, followed by North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa.

Discover

What's the World Economic Forum doing about the gender gap?

Progress in politics

85 of the 153 countries covered in the latest edition have never had a female head of government. Perhaps no coincidence then that five of the top 10 most gender-equal countries have women in charge.

Loading...

This year’s overall improvement was mostly the result of progress in politics, as the number of women in parliaments around the world increased. Even so, only 24.7% of the gap in the Political Empowerment subindex has been bridged so far.

Women's political empowerment: Global Gender Gap Report
Less than a quarter of the gap as been closed Image: World Economic Forum

There were also marginal gains in Educational Attainment and Health and Survival, both of which are nearing parity at 96.1% and 95.7%, respectively.

However, the Economic Participation and Opportunity gap widened slightly, meaning it will now take even longer to close – 257 years, compared to the previous estimate of 202 years.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Education, Gender and Work

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Education, Gender and Work is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Closing the AI equity gap: Trust and safety for sustainable development

Keyzom Ngodup Massally and Jennifer Louie

December 3, 2024

How new taxi marketplaces are tackling old challenges

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum