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 over time. The Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, education, health and political criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups. The rankings are designed to create global awareness 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.

This year’s 13th edition continues to build on the well-established strengths of the report by introducing an innovative online Data Explorer tool which enables readers to directly compare patterns of gender-based inequities between countries as well as explore comprehensive rankings by indicator, region and subindex.

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 2018 rankings, overall trends, regional performances and notable country cases. In addition, the third section of this chapter provides early insights on gender parity in Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills and occupational implications for women, based on a research conducted in collaboration with LinkedIn.

The interactive Country Profiles 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. Each profile contains key demographic and economic indicators as well as detailed information on the country’s performance in both 2018 and in the year in which it was first featured in the report, and additionally highlights more than 70 gender-related indicators that provide a fuller context for the country’s performance. These indicators include information on workforce participation, economic leadership, access to assets and technology, political leadership, family, the care economy, education and skills, and health-related factors.