RICARDO HAUSMANN, Harvard University
LAURA D. TYSON, University of California, Berkeley
YASMINA BEKHOUCHE, World Economic Forum
SAADIA ZAHIDI, World Economic Forum

The Global Gender Gap Index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. This year is the 9th edition of the Index, allowing for time-series analysis on the changing patterns of gender equality around the world and comparisons between and within countries.

The Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education and health criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups. The rankings are designed to create greater awareness among a global audience of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them. The methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective measures for reducing gender gaps.

The first part of this chapter reviews the underlying concepts employed in creating the Global Gender Gap Index and outlines the methods used to calculate it. The second part presents the 2014 rankings, global patterns, regional performance and notable country cases. This year’s country analysis includes more detailed information on country performance over time, particularly for those countries that have been included in the Index since 2006. Next, we provide information on the key trends that can be observed through almost a decade of data for the 111 countries that have been covered since the first Index, by analysing data along issue, income and regional lines. The fourth part of this chapter lays out the latest research on the benefits of gender equality, including links between gender gaps and the economic performance of countries. In the fifth and final part, we provide information on the policy and business implications of the gender gap and the best practices currently in use for addressing it.

The Country Profiles contained in Part 2 of this Report give a more detailed picture of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each country’s performance compared with that of other nations and relative to its own past performance. The first page of each profile contains key demographic and economic indicators as well as detailed information on the country’s performance in 2014, including a comparison within its income group. The second page of the Country Profiles shows the trends between 2006 and 2014 on the overall Index and four subindexes, as well as over 50 gender-related variables that provide a fuller context for the country’s performance. These variables include information on employment & leadership; science, technology and research; health; marriage and childbearing; the childcare ecosystem; and information on rights and norms.