Iceland has been named the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world by the World economic Forum. See how countries compare on the gender gap index 2013.
Iceland is the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world according to the World Economic Forum’s gender gap index. Photograph: © Jose Fuste Raga/CORBIS
Iceland has been named the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world, for the fifth consecutive year, by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The annual gender gap index places Iceland in first place withFinland following in second.
Norway, Sweden and the Philippines take third, fourth and fifth place respectively in the index which looks at four key areas – health (life expectancy, etc), access to education, economic participation (salaries, job type and seniority) and political engagement.
According to the report, Iceland’s overall score was strengthened due to improvements in the ‘economic participation and opportunity’ and the ‘political empowerment’ subindexes whereas Finland held onto second place despite slight losses in its overall score due to a decrease in its ‘economic participation and opportunity’ score.
The UK ranks 18 out of 136 countries – the same position as last year. The WEF stress that this “highlights some important points that the UK must address if it is to truly tackle its gender gap as there are worrisome points across all four pillars.”
Overall the UK is given a score of 0.744, putting it above Austria, Canada and Luxembourg but below Cuba, Lesotho and South Africa. Of the four pillars used for assessment, the UK is ranked 29th for political empowerment, 31st for educational attainment, 35th for economic participation and opportunity and 92nd for health and survival. Click on the image above to explore the interactive heat map created by the WEF.
Regional performance on the overall index score and by subindexes is also covered in the report. In the overall index score, North America takes first position having closed 74% of its gender gap according to the WEF. The Middle East and North Africa region take last place having closed almost 59% of its gender gap. If you look at regional performance across the four indicators then North America comes top for economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment and health and survival. Asia and the Pacific, however, lead the way in the political empowerment subindex according to the latest release.
The table below shows how each country is ranked in the 2013 gender gap index overall and by subindex. The downloadable spreadsheet has data over time and regional breakdowns. For methodology of the index visit the WEF website.
Gender gap index 2013 rankings
Country
Overall rank
Economic Participation and Opportunity rank
Educational Attainment rank
Health and Survival rank
Political Empowerment rankIceland1221971Finland219112Norway311933Sweden41438694Philippines5161110Ireland62934656New Zealand71519312Denmark82516411Switzerland923667216Nicaragua109128555Belgium1134674714Latvia12171126Netherlands1326449322Germany1446864915Cuba1565306313Lesotho16181135South Africa1778541028United Kingdom1835319229Austria196914719Canada20914942Luxembourg21718551Burundi2231149931United States23613360Australia241316943Ecuador2590525517Mozambique261112411218Bolivia2757998423Lithuania2821603447Barbados29101163Spain3076407527Costa Rica319816221Kazakhstan322069165Mongolia332491108Argentina3410142124Colombia3539453455Trinidad and Tobago36475113038Panama3745436148Slovenia3843267554Malawi39411210156Bahamas40511124Cape Verde419697125Serbia42595511139Bulgaria4349643458Namibia4453110552France45671145Uganda4637123128Jamaica473680174Guyana4810214533Croatia4961473450Venezuela508933137Portugal5166568346Moldova5232743487Israel5356829357Poland5473373449Sri Lanka5510948130Madagascar5651937461Macedonia57717512840Singapore58121058590Estonia5941593488Lao PDR*60811310673Russian Federation6142363494Brazil62741168Kyrgyz Republic6360777571Ukraine64302775119Thailand655078189Tanzania667011811232Senegal67811257120Mexico6811170136China69628113359Romania7055503491Italy7197657244Dominican Republic7263848984Vietnam73529513280Slovak Republic74861177Bangladesh751211151247Ghana762411110495Uruguay7758411116Kenya784410710285Cyprus7985839176Peru80888810969Greece8179466592Honduras8294355278Czech Republic839514679Malta84108586553Botswana85481127127Georgia86648912697Hungary87686234120Brunei Darussalam883376109135Paraguay89836155104Tajikistan9038110123100Chile9111232167Angola*9292127134Bhutan*932711682122Armenia948229131115Indonesia9510310110775El Salvador9611479170Maldives97991112101Mauritius9810572193Azerbaijan997285136114Cameroon1004012211299India1011241201359Malaysia1021007375121Burkina Faso103281289998Cambodia10477117196Japan1051049134118Nigeria1065412612283Belize107801031133Albania1088792134130United Arab Emirates109122111281Suriname110119391110Korea, Rep.1111181007586Bahrain11211771112113Zambia1138412198109Guatemala1141131021123Qatar11510653129135Kuwait11611557112126Fiji117120631125Ethiopia118931316866Jordan1191286890117Turkey12012710459103Nepal12111613011241Oman1221239459132Lebanon123126871133Algeria12413310610862Egypt12512510851128Benin1263113611272Saudi Arabia1271349052105Mali12810713254106Morocco12912910988111Iran, Islamic Rep.1301309887129Côte d’Ivoire1311101331107Mauritania132131119182Syria1331369658112Chad13475135112102Pakistan13513512912464Yemen13613213481131