Worldwide gender gap

Posted on: October 30, 2014

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 “People and their talents are two of the core drivers of sustainable, long-term economic growth.  If half of these talents are underdeveloped or underutilized, the economy will never grow as it should “

So says the World Economic Forum this week in its preface to The Global Gender Gap Report 2014.  Arguing that there is both an economic case and a moral case for gender equality, it explores the huge discrepancies in opportunity and attainment between men and women and between different countries.

 The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. This year is the 9th edition of the Index, allowing for time-series analysis on the changing patterns of gender equality around the world and comparisons between and within countries.The Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education and health criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups. The rankings are designed to create greater awareness among a global audience of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them. The WEF, drawing on academic contributors from around the globe, says the methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective measures for reducing gender gaps.  The index measures the gap between men and women within countries, rather than overall levels of wealth or poverty.

The Nordic countries come out top as usual (Iceland has held the top spot for the past few years). Cuba (15th) and Lesotho (16th) are ranked above Canada (20th) and the UK (18th).  Israel (53rd) is behind Uganda (46th), Malawi (39th) and Bolivia (27th).  But prorgess is patchy even in the countries with good overall gender equality – Norway comes top in Economic participation and Educational Attaiment for women, but a dismal 93rd in health.  The full chart – from Albania to Zambia –  is set out below.

WEF Gender gap index 2013 rankings
Country Overall rank Economic Participation and Opportunity rank Educational Attainment rank Health and Survival rank Political Empowerment rank
Iceland 1 22 1 97 1
Finland 2 19 1 1 2
Norway 3 1 1 93 3
Sweden 4 14 38 69 4
Philippines 5 16 1 1 10
Ireland 6 29 34 65 6
New Zealand 7 15 1 93 12
Denmark 8 25 1 64 11
Switzerland 9 23 66 72 16
Nicaragua 10 91 28 55 5
Belgium 11 34 67 47 14
Latvia 12 17 1 1 26
Netherlands 13 26 44 93 22
Germany 14 46 86 49 15
Cuba 15 65 30 63 13
Lesotho 16 18 1 1 35
South Africa 17 78 54 102 8
United Kingdom 18 35 31 92 29
Austria 19 69 1 47 19
Canada 20 9 1 49 42
Luxembourg 21 7 1 85 51
Burundi 22 3 114 99 31
United States 23 6 1 33 60
Australia 24 13 1 69 43
Ecuador 25 90 52 55 17
Mozambique 26 11 124 112 18
Bolivia 27 57 99 84 23
Lithuania 28 21 60 34 47
Barbados 29 10 1 1 63
Spain 30 76 40 75 27
Costa Rica 31 98 1 62 21
Kazakhstan 32 20 69 1 65
Mongolia 33 2 49 1 108
Argentina 34 101 42 1 24
Colombia 35 39 45 34 55
Trinidad and Tobago 36 47 51 130 38
Panama 37 45 43 61 48
Slovenia 38 43 26 75 54
Malawi 39 4 112 101 56
Bahamas 40 5 1 1 124
Cape Verde 41 96 97 1 25
Serbia 42 59 55 111 39
Bulgaria 43 49 64 34 58
Namibia 44 53 1 105 52
France 45 67 1 1 45
Uganda 46 37 123 1 28
Jamaica 47 36 80 1 74
Guyana 48 102 1 45 33
Croatia 49 61 47 34 50
Venezuela 50 89 33 1 37
Portugal 51 66 56 83 46
Moldova 52 32 74 34 87
Israel 53 56 82 93 57
Poland 54 73 37 34 49
Sri Lanka 55 109 48 1 30
Madagascar 56 51 93 74 61
Macedonia 57 71 75 128 40
Singapore 58 12 105 85 90
Estonia 59 41 59 34 88
Lao PDR* 60 8 113 106 73
Russian Federation 61 42 36 34 94
Brazil 62 74 1 1 68
Kyrgyz Republic 63 60 77 75 71
Ukraine 64 30 27 75 119
Thailand 65 50 78 1 89
Tanzania 66 70 118 112 32
Senegal 67 81 125 71 20
Mexico 68 111 70 1 36
China 69 62 81 133 59
Romania 70 55 50 34 91
Italy 71 97 65 72 44
Dominican Republic 72 63 84 89 84
Vietnam 73 52 95 132 80
Slovak Republic 74 86 1 1 77
Bangladesh 75 121 115 124 7
Ghana 76 24 111 104 95
Uruguay 77 58 41 1 116
Kenya 78 44 107 102 85
Cyprus 79 85 83 91 76
Peru 80 88 88 109 69
Greece 81 79 46 65 92
Honduras 82 94 35 52 78
Czech Republic 83 95 1 46 79
Malta 84 108 58 65 53
Botswana 85 48 1 127 127
Georgia 86 64 89 126 97
Hungary 87 68 62 34 120
Brunei Darussalam 88 33 76 109 135
Paraguay 89 83 61 55 104
Tajikistan 90 38 110 123 100
Chile 91 112 32 1 67
Angola* 92 92 127 1 34
Bhutan* 93 27 116 82 122
Armenia 94 82 29 131 115
Indonesia 95 103 101 107 75
El Salvador 96 114 79 1 70
Maldives 97 99 1 112 101
Mauritius 98 105 72 1 93
Azerbaijan 99 72 85 136 114
Cameroon 100 40 122 112 99
India 101 124 120 135 9
Malaysia 102 100 73 75 121
Burkina Faso 103 28 128 99 98
Cambodia 104 77 117 1 96
Japan 105 104 91 34 118
Nigeria 106 54 126 122 83
Belize 107 80 103 1 133
Albania 108 87 92 134 130
United Arab Emirates 109 122 1 112 81
Suriname 110 119 39 1 110
Korea, Rep. 111 118 100 75 86
Bahrain 112 117 71 112 113
Zambia 113 84 121 98 109
Guatemala 114 113 102 1 123
Qatar 115 106 53 129 135
Kuwait 116 115 57 112 126
Fiji 117 120 63 1 125
Ethiopia 118 93 131 68 66
Jordan 119 128 68 90 117
Turkey 120 127 104 59 103
Nepal 121 116 130 112 41
Oman 122 123 94 59 132
Lebanon 123 126 87 1 133
Algeria 124 133 106 108 62
Egypt 125 125 108 51 128
Benin 126 31 136 112 72
Saudi Arabia 127 134 90 52 105
Mali 128 107 132 54 106
Morocco 129 129 109 88 111
Iran, Islamic Rep. 130 130 98 87 129
Côte d’Ivoire 131 110 133 1 107
Mauritania 132 131 119 1 82
Syria 133 136 96 58 112
Chad 134 75 135 112 102
Pakistan 135 135 129 124 64
Yemen 136 132 134 81 131

 

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