Mapped: The best (and worst) countries for gender equality

Gavin Haines
Updated
New research suggests this is the best country in which to be a woman - AP/FOTOLIA
New research suggests this is the best country in which to be a woman - AP/FOTOLIA

There are many reasons why you might feel compelled to visit a country: the culture, cuisine and history are all factors that may play a part in your decision making. But what about the destination’s attitude to gender equality - could that sway you?

If so then you may be interested in new research, published this week, from the World Economic Forum (WEF), which, as part of its annual Global Gender Gap Report, ranked almost 150 countries on gender equality.

Enlightened Iceland was found to have a smaller gender gap than any other country - though, crucially, a gap still exists there - followed by Norway and Finland.

That these Scandinavian nations lead the way may not come as a big surprise, but the rest of the top 10 is likely to raise a few eyebrows, given that it features Rwanda and Nicaragua, but not the United Kingdom, which came 15th.

The 20 best countries for gender equality

  1. Iceland

  2. Norway

  3. Finland 

  4. Rwanda

  5. Sweden

  6. Nicaragua

  7. Slovenia

  8. Ireland 

  9. New Zealand

  10. Philippines 

  11. France

  12. Germany

  13. Namibia

  14. Denmark

  15. United Kingdom

  16. Canada

  17. Bolivia

  18. Bulgaria

  19. South Africa

  20. Latvia

At the other end of the table, the shameful end, was war-torn Yemen, though it should be noted that data wasn’t available for all of the world’s countries.

War-torn Yemen has many problems, gender equality being one of them - Credit: AP/FOTOLIA
War-torn Yemen has many problems, gender equality being one of them Credit: AP/FOTOLIA

Yemen was followed by Pakistan and Syria as the least equal nations; Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving, was also among the top 10 worst performers.

The 10 worst countries for gender equality

  1. Yemen

  2. Pakistan 

  3. Syria 

  4. Chad

  5. Iran 

  6. Mali

  7. Saudi Arabia

  8. Lebanon

  9. Morocco

  10. Jordan 

The WEF marks countries against a range of criteria - including wage equality, number of women in parliament and life expectancy for both sexes - with 0.0 being the lowest score and 1.0 being the highest.

Now in its 11th year, the Global Gender Gap Report has given WEF an opportunity to identify long-term trends in gender equality - and the news isn’t great.

Mapped: The countries that have never been ruled by a woman

While the global gender gap has narrowed since 2006, it has done so at a glacial pace and, should that continue, it would take another 100 years for the world’s women to be on an even footing with men. Furthermore, there has actually been a widening of the gender gap since last year’s study. 

“In 2017, we should not be seeing progress towards gender parity shift into reverse,” said Saadia Zahidi, head of education, gender and work at the WEF. “Gender equality is both a moral and an economic imperative.”