Best Countries for Gender Equality – Ranked

First published in 2006 by the World Economic Forum, the Global Gender Gap Index measures gender equality in 146 countries by tracking and ranking a range of gender-based gaps across society.

Now in its 17th year, the report is compiled by drawing on data from the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the OECD and UNESCO.

The report calculates gender-based gaps using four key dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity; Educational Attainment; Health and Survival; Political Empowerment.

The index also tracks progress towards closing gender-based gaps over time and makes regional comparisons.

Assessing the gender gap enables the index to compare rich and poor countries on an equal footing. It is the disparity between genders that is being measured rather than the baseline quality of living.

What the research says…

• Iceland remains the world’s most gender-equal country for the 14th time in a row.
• The global top 10 features seven European countries, one country from the Americas, one from East Asia and the Pacific and one country from Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Western Europe is the best-performing region for the 17th consecutive year.
• The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are the worst-performing regions.
• Recent global improvements can largely be ascribed to a significant increase in the number of women in politics.
• However, in the past 50 years, 67 states have had no female head of state.
• Globally, only 64% of women (aged 15-64) are engaged in the labor market.
• Women are barred from opening bank accounts or obtaining credit in 72 countries globally.

Closing the gap

According to the current trajectory, global gender parity will take 131 years.

However, it still means parity between men and women across all dimensions – health, education, work and politics – will take more than a lifetime to achieve.

Some regions are making better progress than others in regard to gender parity.

1. Latin America and the Caribbean will achieve gender parity in 53 years.
2. Europe will achieve gender parity in 67 years.
3. North America will achieve gender parity in 95 years.
4. Sub-Saharan Africa will achieve gender parity in 102 years
5. Southern Asia will achieve gender parity in 149 years
6. Middle East and North Africa will achieve gender parity in 152 years.
7. Eurasia and Central Asia will achieve gender parity in 167 years.
8. East Asia and the Pacific will achieve gender parity in 189 years.

Best countries for gender equality – complete ranking

The table below ranks the best countries for gender equality by the score they achieved in the 2023 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum.

The highest possible score is 1 (equality), and the lowest possible score is 0 (inequality). Some countries have been omitted due to insufficient data.

Rank	Country	Score
1	Iceland	0.912
2	Norway	0.879
3	Finland	0.863
4	New Zealand	0.856
5	Sweden	0.815
6	Germany	0.815
7	Nicaragua	0.811
8	Namibia	0.802
9	Lithuania	0.8
10	Belgium	0.796
11	Ireland	0.795
12	Rwanda	0.794
13	Latvia	0.794
14	Costa Rica	0.793
15	United Kingdom	0.792
16	Philippines	0.791
17	Albania	0.791
18	Spain	0.791
19	Moldova, Republic of	0.788
20	South Africa	0.787
21	Switzerland	0.783
22	Estonia	0.782
23	Denmark	0.78
24	Jamaica	0.779
25	Mozambique	0.778
26	Australia	0.778
27	Chile	0.777
28	Netherlands	0.777
29	Slovenia	0.773
30	Canada	0.77
31	Barbados	0.769
32	Portugal	0.765
33	Mexico	0.765
34	Peru	0.764
35	Burundi	0.763
36	Argentina	0.762
37	Cabo Verde	0.761
38	Serbia	0.76
39	Liberia	0.76
40	France	0.756
41	Belarus	0.752
42	Colombia	0.751
43	United States of America	0.748
44	Luxembourg	0.747
45	Zimbabwe	0.746
46	Eswatini	0.745
47	Austria	0.74
48	Tanzania, United Republic of	0.74
49	Singapore	0.739
50	Ecuador	0.737
51	Madagascar	0.737
52	Suriname	0.736
53	Honduras	0.735
54	Lao People's Democratic Republic	0.733
55	Croatia	0.73
56	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	0.73
57	Brazil	0.726
58	Panama	0.724
59	Bangladesh	0.722
60	Poland	0.722
61	Armenia	0.721
62	Kazakhstan	0.721
63	Slovakia	0.72
64	Botswana	0.719
65	Bulgaria	0.715
66	Ukraine	0.714
67	Uruguay	0.714
68	El Salvador	0.714
69	Montenegro	0.714
70	Malta	0.713
71	United Arab Emirates	0.712
72	Viet Nam	0.711
73	North Macedonia	0.711
74	Thailand	0.711
75	Ethiopia	0.711
76	Georgia	0.708
77	Kenya	0.708
78	Uganda	0.706
79	Italy	0.705
80	Mongolia	0.704
81	Dominican Republic	0.704
82	Lesotho	0.702
83	Israel	0.701
84	Kyrgyzstan	0.7
85	Zambia	0.699
86	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.698
87	Indonesia	0.697
88	Romania	0.697
89	Belize	0.696
90	Togo	0.696
91	Paraguay	0.695
92	Cambodia	0.695
93	Greece	0.693
94	Cameroon	0.693
95	Timor Leste	0.693
96	Brunei Darussalam	0.693
97	Azerbaijan	0.692
98	Mauritius	0.689
99	Hungary	0.689
100	Ghana	0.688
101	Czech Republic	0.685
102	Malaysia	0.682
103	Bhutan	0.682
104	Senegal	0.68
105	Korea, Republic of	0.68
106	Cyprus	0.678
107	China	0.678
108	Vanuatu	0.678
109	Burkina Faso	0.676
110	Malawi	0.676
111	Tajikistan	0.672
112	Sierra Leone	0.667
113	Bahrain	0.666
114	Comoros	0.664
115	Sri Lanka	0.663
116	Nepal	0.659
117	Guatemala	0.659
118	Angola	0.656
119	Gambia	0.651
120	Kuwait	0.651
121	Fiji	0.65
122	Côte d'Ivoire	0.65
123	Myanmar	0.65
124	Maldives	0.649
125	Japan	0.647
126	Jordan	0.646
127	India	0.643
128	Tunisia	0.642
129	Türkiye	0.638
130	Nigeria	0.637
131	Saudi Arabia	0.637
132	Lebanon	0.628
133	Qatar	0.627
134	Egypt	0.626
135	Niger	0.622
136	Morocco	0.621
137	Guinea	0.617
138	Benin	0.616
139	Oman	0.614
140	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	0.612
141	Mali	0.605
142	Pakistan	0.575
143	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	0.575
144	Algeria	0.573
145	Chad	0.57
146	Afghanistan	0.405

Source: Global Gender Gap Benchmarking 2023