Global Gender Gap Index

Why it matters

The Global Gender Gap Index shows how far women's chances match men's in four parts of life: work and pay, education, health and survival, and political power. Gaps in work and pay hold back women's incomes and independence. Gaps in political power leave women with less say in the laws and budgets that affect them.

Gender equality is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5. Because each of the four parts is scored separately, the index shows which gap is widest and so where policy most needs to act: girls' schooling and health, women's jobs and equal pay, or women's seats in parliament and government.

What it is

The Global Gender Gap Index measures the gap between women and men in four areas: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published it since 2006 in its Global Gender Gap Report.

Its 14 indicators each compare women's value with men's. They include labour-force participation, wages for similar work, earned income, literacy, school and college enrolment, the sex ratio at birth, healthy life expectancy, and women's shares of seats in parliament and of ministerial posts. Each area scores from 0 to 1, and the index is the simple average of the four. A score of 1 means full parity, where women and men are equal, so a score of 0.65 means 65% of the gap has been closed.

Because each indicator is a ratio, a country can score well where women and men are equally badly off. Scores stop at parity, so a country gains nothing where women are ahead of men. A lower rank number is better.

Read this number