Empowerment Gap

The Empowerment Gap is estimated from the following indicators:

  • % of women in technical positions
  • % of women in management and government positions
  • % of women in parliaments
  • % of women in ministerial posts

A large majority of countries rank very low in the empowerment dimension of the GEI. The gap between women and men is highest among professional, managerial, parliamentary and ministerial positions.

This dimension shows the largest gap. However, it is also the only one where a huge majority of countries show progress. Most of the advances registered in the total index happen in countries that have progressed in empowerment.

Women members of parliaments globally average only 17 per cent of all seats, far below the goal of 30+ women's representation in national legislatures adopted in Beijing in 1995. Only 19 countries have achieved this figure, considered to be the threshold for women having an on the workings of a parliament. Out of these 19, only 5 (Finland, Denmark, Cuba, New Zealand and Belarus) have made it without legal quotas. Nowadays, there are 97 countries with constitutional, electoral or political party quotas and the average level of representation for women in these countries is 19 per cent.

Sources: Global Database of Quotas for Women, IPU database, Wedo.

 

Empowerment gap_ basic data (.rtf)

Empowerment gap

Sweden 83.2  
Finland 76.1  
Rwanda 75.4  
Spain 73.9  
Germany 72.7  
Norway 70.9  
Philippines 65.5  
Netherlands 62.3  
Denmark 60.4  
South Africa 59.7  
Uruguay 59.7  
Bahamas 58.9  
Austria 58.8  
New Zealand 58.4  
Russian Federation 58.3  
Barbados 58.1  
Cuba 56.8  
Lithuania 56.7  
Latvia 56.6  
Colombia 56.5  
Slovakia 56.3  
Belgium 55.9  
Ukraine 55.7  
Trinidad and Tobago 55.4  
Iceland 55.2  
Honduras 54.2  
Australia 54.1  
St Lucia 53.7  
Mongolia 53.3  
Canada 53.1  
Panama 53.0  
Bulgaria 52.8  
Argentina 52.8  
Croatia 52.3  
United States of America 52.1  
Hong Kong 51.8  
El Salvador 51.4  
Tanzania 51.3  
Estonia 51.2  
United Kingdom 51.2  
Moldova 51.1  
Namibia 50.8  
Kazakhstan 50.4  
Macedonia 50.1  
Portugal 49.7  
Botswana 49.5  
Kyrgyzstan 49.2  
Costa Rica 49.0  
Ecuador 49.0  
Singapore 48.7  
France 47.9  
Peru 47.8  
Dominican Republic 47.1  
Ireland 46.9  
Paraguay 46.4  
Belize 45.8  
Poland 45.3  
Hungary 44.7  
Viet Nam 44.0  
Venezuela 43.9  
Georgia 43.5  
Brazil 43.5  
Czech Republic 43.4  
Israel 42.9  
Chile 42.8  
Slovenia 42.5  
Romania 41.9  
Brunei Darussalam 41.2  
Italy 40.6  
Thailand 39.7  
Greece 39.0  
Cyprus 38.7  
Mexico 38.2  
China 38.2  
Guinea-Bissau 38.1  
Bolivia 37.6  
Uganda 36.5  
Guyana 34.7  
Lesotho 34.6  
Mauritius 34.5  
Mozambique 34.2  
Timor-Leste 33.4  
West Bank and Gaza 33.1  
Sri Lanka 32.1  
Japan 30.2  
Malaysia 29.1  
Syria 29.0  
Malta 28.7  
Burundi 27.9  
Maldives 27.8  
Senegal 27.1  
Belarus 26.1  
Saudi Arabia 25.7  
Ethiopia 25.5  
Zambia 25.2  
Eritrea 24.8  
Switzerland 23.9  
Suriname 23.8  
St Vincent and Grenadines 23.6  
Luxembourg 23.5  
Korea, Rep. 23.5  
Guatemala 23.5  
Oman 23.4  
Algeria 22.4  
Niger 22.1  
Morocco 21.4  
Guinea 21.1  
Cambodia 21.0  
Cape Verde 20.6  
Iran 20.5  
Nicaragua 19.7  
United Arab Emirates 19.2  
Zimbabwe 18.6  
Tunisia 18.6  
Jamaica 18.3  
Burkina Faso 17.7  
Gambia 17.7  
Bangladesh 17.6  
Pakistan 17.5  
Turkey 17.3  
Mali 17.0  
Togo 16.5  
Benin 16.3  
Malawi 16.2  
Qatar 16.2  
Mauritania 15.9  
Nepal 15.3  
Egypt 15.3  
Azerbaijan 15.2  
Côte d'Ivoire 15.0  
Sierra Leone 14.9  
Cameroon 14.5  
Gabon 13.8  
Swaziland 13.7  
Equatorial Guinea 13.3  
Ghana 12.8  
Congo, Rep. 12.6  
Uzbekistan 12.5  
Indonesia 12.4  
Sudan 12.4  
Tajikistan 12.2  
Angola 11.8  
Central African Republic 11.4  
Chad 10.0  
Kenya 9.7  
Nigeria 9.3  
Sao Tome and Principe 9.3  
Jordan 8.9  
Djibouti 8.9  
Madagascar 7.5  
Samoa 7.4  
Albania 6.6  
Vanuatu 6.5  
India 6.3  
Yemen 6.3  
Lebanon 6.2  
Bahrain 6.0