Best Countries for Gender Equality – Ranked 2026

First published in 2006 by the World Economic Forum, the Global Gender Gap Index measures gender equality in 148 countries by tracking and ranking a range of gender-based gaps across society.

Now in its 19th edition, the index draws on internationally comparable data from sources including the International Labor Organization, UNESCO, and national statistical offices.

The index assesses gender disparities across four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. The index also tracks progress toward closing gender gaps over time and enables regional comparisons.

Because the index measures gaps between men and women rather than overall levels of development, it allows meaningful comparisons between high-income and lower-income countries.

The rankings below are based on the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, the most recent edition available as of 2026.

Key findings

• Iceland remains the world’s most gender-equal country for the 16th time in a row.
• The global top 10 features eight European countries, one from the Pacific and one country from Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Western Europe is the best-performing region for the 19th 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.
• 113 countries have never had a woman serve as head of state or government.
• The global labor-force participation rate for women stands at about 48.7%, while for men it’s around 73%.
• Women are still barred from opening bank accounts or obtaining credit in 72 countries globally.

Best countries for gender equality – complete ranking

The table below ranks the best countries for gender equality by the score they achieved in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum.

Countries are scored between 0 and 1, where 1 represents full gender parity and 0 represents complete inequality. Some countries have been omitted due to insufficient data.

Rank	Country	Score
1	Iceland	0.926
2	Finland	0.879
3	Norway	0.863
4	United Kingdom	0.838
5	New Zealand	0.827
6	Sweden	0.817
7	Republic of Moldova	0.813
8	Namibia	0.811
9	Germany	0.803
10	Ireland	0.801
11	Estonia	0.799
12	Spain	0.797
13	Australia	0.792
14	Denmark	0.791
15	Barbados	0.786
16	Costa Rica	0.786
17	Switzerland	0.785
18	Nicaragua	0.783
19	Lithuania	0.783
20	Philippines	0.781
21	Latvia	0.778
22	Chile	0.777
23	Mexico	0.776
24	Bangladesh	0.775
25	Ecuador	0.774
26	Serbia	0.774
27	Belgium	0.773
28	Trinidad and Tobago	0.772
29	Slovenia	0.77
30	Cape Verde	0.769
31	Guyana	0.768
32	Canada	0.767
33	South Africa	0.767
34	Portugal	0.767
35	France	0.765
36	Albania	0.763
37	Argentina	0.762
38	Jamaica	0.762
39	Rwanda	0.762
40	Liberia	0.76
41	Colombia	0.758
42	United States of America	0.756
43	Netherlands	0.756
44	Burundi	0.756
45	Poland	0.75
46	Eswatini	0.748
47	Singapore	0.748
48	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	0.747
49	Zimbabwe	0.747
50	Luxembourg	0.745
51	Panama	0.741
52	Suriname	0.738
53	Mozambique	0.738
54	Belarus	0.736
55	United Republic of Tanzania	0.736
56	Austria	0.735
57	Peru	0.735
58	Madagascar	0.734
59	Armenia	0.731
60	Botswana	0.731
61	Dominican Republic	0.73
62	Ukraine	0.73
63	Georgia	0.729
64	Croatia	0.728
65	Mongolia	0.728
66	Thailand	0.728
67	Honduras	0.727
68	Malta	0.727
69	United Arab Emirates	0.724
70	Slovakia	0.723
71	Uruguay	0.72
72	Brazil	0.72
73	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.717
74	Viet Nam	0.713
75	Ethiopia	0.71
76	Israel	0.709
77	Greece	0.709
78	El Salvador	0.709
79	Zambia	0.707
80	Uganda	0.707
81	Guatemala	0.706
82	Cyprus	0.706
83	Bulgaria	0.706
84	Montenegro	0.705
85	Italy	0.704
86	Timor-Leste	0.704
87	Paraguay	0.703
88	Ghana	0.703
89	Belize	0.702
90	North Macedonia	0.699
91	Gabon	0.699
92	Kazakhstan	0.698
93	Cameroon	0.697
94	Romania	0.697
95	Kyrgyzstan	0.696
96	Lao PDR	0.692
97	Indonesia	0.692
98	Kenya	0.689
99	Lesotho	0.688
100	Azerbaijan	0.688
101	South Korea	0.687
102	Czechia	0.686
103	China	0.686
104	Bahrain	0.684
105	Hungary	0.684
106	Cambodia	0.682
107	Brunei Darussalam	0.681
108	Malaysia	0.681
109	Vanuatu	0.679
110	Uzbekistan	0.678
111	Mauritius	0.677
112	Sierra Leone	0.677
113	Benin	0.676
114	Gambia (Republic of The)	0.674
115	Comoros	0.672
116	Senegal	0.67
117	Angola	0.668
118	Japan	0.666
119	Bhutan	0.663
120	Burkina Faso	0.659
121	Togo	0.657
122	Jordan	0.655
123	Tunisia	0.654
124	Nigeria	0.649
125	Nepal	0.648
126	Fiji	0.647
127	Cote d'Ivoire	0.647
128	Kuwait	0.646
129	Tajikistan	0.646
130	Sri Lanka	0.645
131	India	0.644
132	Saudi Arabia	0.643
133	Papua New Guinea	0.638
134	Oman	0.637
135	Turkiye	0.633
136	Lebanon	0.632
137	Morocco	0.628
138	Maldives	0.626
139	Egypt	0.625
140	Mali	0.617
141	Algeria	0.614
142	Niger	0.613
143	Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.601
144	Guinea	0.595
145	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	0.583
146	Chad	0.571
147	Sudan	0.57
148	Pakistan	0.567

Global progress toward gender parity by region

According to the current trajectory, global gender parity will take 123 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 57 years.
2. Europe will achieve gender parity in 76 years.
3. North America will achieve gender parity in 89 years.
4. Sub-Saharan Africa will achieve gender parity in 107 years.
5. Southern Asia will achieve gender parity in 138 years.
6. Middle East and North Africa will achieve gender parity in 185 years.
7. Central Asia will achieve gender parity in 208 years.
8. East Asia and the Pacific will achieve gender parity in 179 years.

Source: Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum.