The world’s best countries for women in terms of gender equality have been announced. We take a look at the updated results
The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, in partnership with the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, has released the 2019 Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index. The index ranks 167 countries by women’s equality.
The index assesses women’s inclusion in society, sense of security and exposure to discrimination – key indicators of how women are faring in different communities and cultures.
This is the first update of the index since its launch in 2017.
10 best countries for women
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Austria
- UK
- Luxembourg
- Sweden
- Netherlands
“Women are critical to achieving sustainable peace”
GIWPS
Assessing gender equality
The index uses 11 indicators to assess the world’s best countries for women in terms of gender equality. These indicators fall into three categories: inclusion, security and justice.
Inclusion
- Education: average years of education among women aged 25 and over
- Financial inclusion: percentage of women aged 15 and over who have a bank account, joint bank account or use a mobile banking app
- Employment: percentage of women aged 25 and older that are employed
- Cellphone use: percentage of women aged 15 and older who have access to a mobile phone
- Parliamentary representation: percentage of seats held by women across all houses of national parliaments
Security
- Legal discrimination: aggregate score of laws and regulations that limit women’s ability to participate in society or the economy
- Son bias: where the ratio of male to female births exceed the natural rate
- Discriminatory norms: percentage of men aged 15 years and older who say it’s unacceptable for women to hold paying jobs
Justice
- Intimate partner violence: percentage of women physically or sexually assaulted in the last 12 months
- Community safety: percentage of women aged 15 and older who report feeling safe while walking alone at night
- Organised violence: deaths per 100,000 people caused by large-scale armed conflicts
World’s best countries for women: insights
Of 167 countries, only Iceland (5) performed in the top third of every aspect of women’s lives captured by the WPS Index. This insight proves that the need to advance gender equality is truly a universal agenda.
Norway is the world’s best country for women in 2019. Switzerland, Finland, Denmark and Iceland round out the top five. The 10 best countries for women are all in Europe with Canada (11) the highest ranked non-European country.
Among regions, the Middle East and North Africa generally perform poorly overall. Of the 12 worst countries, only Pakistan is not classified as fragile and conflict affected. Six of those 12 are located in Sub-Saharan Africa.
A total of 59 countries recorded significant progress since the previous edition. Only Yemen – the world’s worst country for women – experienced major deterioration. Yemen is joined by Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan and South Sudan in the bottom five.
World’s best countries for women: ranking
The ranking below reflects the average of each country’s scores across all 11 metrics. All countries are ranked on a 0-1 scale. The highest possible score is 1 (equality) and the lowest possible score is 0 (inequality).
Rank | Country | WPS Index value |
---|---|---|
1 | Norway | 0.904 |
2 | Switzerland | 0.893 |
3 | Finland | 0.891 |
3 | Denmark | 0.891 |
5 | Iceland | 0.888 |
6 | Austria | 0.884 |
7 | UK | 0.883 |
8 | Luxembourg | 0.880 |
9 | Sweden | 0.879 |
9 | Netherlands | 0.879 |
11 | Canada | 0.876 |
12 | Estonia | 0.873 |
13 | Slovenia | 0.872 |
14 | New Zealand | 0.869 |
15 | Spain | 0.860 |
16 | Ireland | 0.858 |
17 | Germany | 0.856 |
17 | Portugal | 0.856 |
19 | USA | 0.851 |
20 | France | 0.847 |
21 | Latvia | 0.845 |
22 | Australia | 0.844 |
23 | Singapore | 0.843 |
24 | Serbia | 0.839 |
25 | Poland | 0.838 |
26 | Lithuania | 0.835 |
27 | Belgium | 0.827 |
28 | Italy | 0.826 |
29 | Japan | 0.823 |
30 | Czech Rep. | 0.820 |
31 | Cyprus | 0.819 |
32 | Croatia | 0.818 |
33 | South Korea | 0.816 |
34 | Israel | 0.815 |
35 | Slovakia | 0.813 |
36 | Malta | 0.807 |
37 | North Macedonia | 0.806 |
38 | Belarus | 0.804 |
39 | Bulgaria | 0.801 |
40 | Montenegro | 0.791 |
41 | Trinidad & Tobago | 0.788 |
42 | Jamaica | 0.787 |
43 | Kazakhstan | 0.786 |
44 | UAE | 0.781 |
45 | Costa Rica | 0.779 |
46 | Georgia | 0.777 |
47 | Mongolia | 0.776 |
48 | Argentina | 0.775 |
49 | Ecuador | 0.772 |
49 | Hungary | 0.772 |
51 | Greece | 0.770 |
51 | Russia | 0.770 |
53 | Romania | 0.767 |
54 | Bolivia | 0.765 |
55 | Chile | 0.764 |
56 | Bosnia & Herz. | 0.760 |
57 | Albania | 0.759 |
58 | Fiji | 0.757 |
58 | Uruguay | 0.757 |
60 | Turkmenistan | 0.752 |
60 | Mauritius | 0.752 |
62 | Namibia | 0.748 |
63 | Suriname | 0.744 |
64 | Moldova | 0.743 |
65 | Rwanda | 0.743 |
66 | Guyana | 0.741 |
66 | South Africa | 0.741 |
68 | Paraguay | 0.738 |
69 | Peru | 0.735 |
70 | Hong Kong | 0.731 |
70 | Panama | 0.731 |
72 | Qatar | 0.730 |
73 | Malaysia | 0.729 |
74 | Dominican Rep. | 0.726 |
74 | Zimbabwe | 0.726 |
76 | El Salvador | 0.725 |
76 | China | 0.725 |
78 | Lao PDR | 0.724 |
78 | Ghana | 0.724 |
80 | Timor-Leste | 0.721 |
80 | Kyrgyzstan | 0.721 |
82 | Armenia | 0.720 |
83 | Bahrain | 0.719 |
84 | Venezuela | 0.717 |
84 | Nepal | 0.717 |
86 | Belize | 0.716 |
87 | Barbados | 0.715 |
88 | Nicaragua | 0.712 |
89 | Uzbekistan | 0.710 |
90 | Philippines | 0.709 |
91 | Honduras | 0.708 |
92 | Viet Nam | 0.707 |
92 | Thailand | 0.707 |
94 | Tanzania | 0.704 |
95 | Indonesia | 0.703 |
96 | Kuwait | 0.701 |
96 | Tajikistan | 0.701 |
98 | Brazil | 0.700 |
98 | Cabo Verde | 0.700 |
98 | Kenya | 0.700 |
101 | Solomon Islands | 0.695 |
102 | Cambodia | 0.694 |
103 | Mexico | 0.693 |
104 | Colombia | 0.691 |
105 | Ukraine | 0.689 |
106 | Guatemala | 0.680 |
107 | Sri Lanka | 0.679 |
107 | Zambia | 0.679 |
109 | Uganda | 0.678 |
110 | Mozambique | 0.675 |
111 | Maldives | 0.671 |
112 | Botswana | 0.667 |
113 | Togo | 0.665 |
114 | Turkey | 0.661 |
114 | Senegal | 0.661 |
116 | Benin | 0.659 |
117 | Papua New Guinea | 0.658 |
118 | Iran | 0.657 |
118 | Bhutan | 0.657 |
120 | Saudi Arabia | 0.655 |
121 | Tunisia | 0.651 |
121 | Ethiopia | 0.651 |
123 | Azerbaijan | 0.650 |
124 | Gabon | 0.647 |
125 | Lesotho | 0.641 |
126 | Gambia | 0.638 |
127 | São Tomé & Príncipe | 0.634 |
128 | Comoros | 0.632 |
129 | Jordan | 0.629 |
130 | Angola | 0.626 |
130 | Equatorial Guinea | 0.626 |
130 | Malawi | 0.626 |
133 | Morocco | 0.625 |
133 | India | 0.625 |
133 | Guinea | 0.625 |
136 | Burkina Faso | 0.622 |
136 | Madagascar | 0.622 |
138 | Côte d'Ivoire | 0.617 |
139 | Burundi | 0.616 |
140 | Haiti | 0.613 |
140 | Eswatini | 0.613 |
142 | Bangladesh | 0.612 |
143 | Algeria | 0.611 |
144 | Liberia | 0.608 |
145 | Djibouti | 0.604 |
145 | Nigeria | 0.604 |
147 | Lebanon | 0.599 |
148 | Cameroon | 0.597 |
149 | Congo | 0.593 |
150 | Myanmar | 0.587 |
151 | Egypt | 0.583 |
151 | Mauritania | 0.583 |
153 | Sierra Leone | 0.578 |
154 | Somalia | 0.564 |
155 | Niger | 0.554 |
156 | Chad | 0.553 |
157 | Sudan | 0.547 |
158 | Libya | 0.546 |
159 | Mali | 0.539 |
160 | Central African Rep. | 0.513 |
161 | DR Congo | 0.512 |
162 | Iraq | 0.490 |
163 | South Sudan | 0.479 |
164 | Pakistan | 0.460 |
165 | Syria | 0.416 |
166 | Afghanistan | 0.373 |
167 | Yemen | 0.351 |
The full report can be downloaded here.