Country results are organized by region in this section.

Europe and Central Asia

As of 2014, the Europe and Central Asia region has closed 72% of its overall gender gap and still ranks at the second place globally, showing a small absolute increase of 1.2% over 2013. Nearly two-thirds of the countries in the region have improved their overall score, while a third decreased their overall score and two countries have stayed in the same as last year. The region’s scores on all four subindexes have improved compared to 2013 (with the biggest improvement on the Political Empowerment subindex). With 68% of the economic gender gap being closed, the region ranks third on that subindex, just after North America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The region has closed 99% of its educational gender gap and ranks third, after North America and Latin America and the Caribbean. It also ranks second on the Health and Survival (98% of gender gap closed) and the Political Empowerment subindexes (21% of gender gap closed).

Compared to 2006, the region’s 40 countries have experienced the smallest score increase relative to other regions, moving up from 0.687 to 0.717, which corresponds to a 4.5% relative increase. The region went up by 9.4% on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and by 0.8% on the Educational Attainment subindex, went slightly down by 0.0004% on the Health and Survival subindex and finally improved by 35% on the Political Empowerment subindex, from 16% of the gap being closed to 22%. On that last subindex, Europe experienced the lowest increase compared to the other regions.

In 2014, on the overall Index, the top five ranks are occupied by countries from the region, while seven countries from the region rank among the top 10 and 12 countries rank among the top 20 (one less than last year). France, Kazakhstan and Latvia are the three countries from the region that have fully closed both their Educational Attainment and Health and Survival gender gaps. Out of the 25 countries that have fully closed their Educational Attainment gender gaps, 13 countries are from the Europe and Central Asia region.

On the Health and Survival subindex, unlike the otherwise strong performance, three countries from the region—Azerbaijan, Albania and Armenia—are among the bottom ranking countries on this subindex. Seven out of the top 20 performing countries on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex are from the region. On the Political Empowerment subindex, 11 out of the top 20 performing countries—including the top three: Iceland, Finland and Norway—are from the region, which is one more than last year. The region continues to perform well on the Professional and technical workers indicator, with 14 countries in the top 20. However, five out of the 10 lowest performing countries on the Wage equality for similar work indicator are from the region. Fourteen out of the twenty lowest ranking countries on the Sex ratio indicator are from the region, including the lowest-ranked country, Armenia. Seven out of the top 10 best-performing countries on the Healthy life expectancy and Women in ministerial positions indicators are from the region.

Iceland (1) started in 2006 at the fourth position and climbed over the next years to occupy the top spot for the last six consecutive years. The country experienced a steady increase of its overall score except this year. This year, Iceland ranks 7th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, has fully closed the educational gender gap and ranks first on the Political Empowerment subindex, with 20 out of the past 50 years with a Female head of state. These scores offset the fact that Iceland ranks 128th on the Health and Survival subindex, where Iceland’s low score is due to its performance on the Healthy life expectancy indicator. Iceland is among the top ten countries to have seen its Legislators, senior officials and managers female-to-male ratio increase over the past nine years. It is also the country that has seen the fourth biggest increase of the Years with female head of state female-over-male ratio since the creation of this Index.

Iceland is also a strong performer on the contextual indicators provided in the report but not included in the Index. Iceland is among the top ten on the Ability of women to rise to positions of enterprise leadership, highlighting the success of the country in maximizing the return from its investment in female education. It also has one of the highest shares (52%) of women employed in the non-agricultural sector (as a percentage of total non-agricultural employment). Iceland is also one of the countries with the lowest difference in the numbers of male and female graduates in STEM studies and is the country with the highest percentage of female and male Internet users. Iceland also has the longest paternity coverage (90 calendar days), one amongst many policies in the country (and in other Nordic countries) to provide policies to help combine work and family. Finally, Iceland is among the countries that have put in place voluntary political party quotas, providing an incentive for women to enter politics.

Finland (2) continues to hold the second position for the third consecutive year and has improved its score by 6.2% compared to 2006. Finland is the highest-ranking country from the European Union. Finland ranks 21st this year on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and has fully closed its Educational gender gap. The country ranks 52nd on the Health and Survival subindex and second on the Political Empowerment subindex. Finland is the second best country from the region on the Labour force participation indicator and Wage equality for similar work indicator. Over forty-two percent of parliamentarians and 50% of ministers in the country are women. Finland also performs very well on the Years with female head of state indicator, ranking 7th out of 142 countries. On that indicator, Finland presents one of the biggest increases (6th biggest) over the past nine years.

Like Iceland, Finland is among the top ten countries with the highest share of women employed in the non-agricultural sector (% of total non-agricultural employment) as well as on the Ability to rise to positions of leadership indicator. Together with Sweden and Norway, Finland is one of the countries with the lowest female Average minutes spent per day on unpaid work indicator—and the highest share of women on boards of listed companies (14% for Finland, 17% for Sweden and 37% for Norway). Finland is also the third—highest ranking country when it comes to length of paternity coverage. Finally, Finland was the second country to introduce the right to vote for women in 1906, underlying a long culture of female inclusion in politics.

Norway (3) ranks third for the third consecutive time and has increased its score by 4.7% since 2006. It is the second best country on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, with the sixth largest climb over the nine past years on the Wage equality for similar work indicator. The country has fully closed its Educational Attainment gender gap but ranks 98th on the Health and Survival subindex. It is the third highest performing country on the Political Empowerment subindex. Norway is also the strongest performing country from the region on the Wage for equal work indicator. The country is also among the top 15 performers on all three Political Empowerment indicators. It is also the best country overall when it comes to the Ability of women to rise to positions of enterprise leadership and is the second best country after Iceland in terms of the percentage of female and male Internet users. Finally, Norway is also the country with the highest rate of contraceptive prevalence (married women or in union) and has the smallest difference—57 minutes—between the average minutes spent per day on unpaid work by men and women.

This year, Sweden (4) ranks fourth for the sixth consecutive time. The country ranks 15th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, and 5th on the Political Empowerment subindex. Sweden performs in the top twenty on the Labour force indicator as well as on the Estimated earned income indicator. Sweden is among the best performers in Europe and Central Asia on two Political Empowerment indicators, ranking third on the Women in parliament indicator and second on the Women in ministerial positions indicator (57% of its ministers are women). Denmark (5) ranks seventh on the Political Empowerment subindex and is among the 25 countries that have closed their Educational Gender gap. It also ranks 12th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. Denmark is the best performing country on the Estimated earned income indicator and is the only country where, on average, women earn more than men, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.02. It is also the county with the highest average minutes spent per day by men on unpaid work. Denmark is followed by Ireland (8) and Belgium (10). It is the first time this year that Belgium enters the top ten.

Switzerland (11) loses one place compared to last year, although its overall score has improved compared to last year. Switzerland ranks 23rd on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and 16th on the Political Empowerment subindex. This year, Switzerland is among the top ten performers on the Women in ministerial position indicator. Compared to 2006, Switzerland has a worse score on the Health and Survival subindex due to a decrease in the Healthy life expectancy female-to-male ratio. However, it has improved on the other three subindexes. Switzerland is the fourth highest country on the percentage of female part-time employment compared to the total female employment (45.6%), after the Netherlands, Georgia and Albania. Out of the 37 countries that are covered on this indicator, Switzerland is among the five countries with the highest mean age of women at the birth of the first child (30 years old).

Next is Germany (12) which, compared to its starting point 9 years ago, has seen an improvement in all subindexes except Health and Survival. Germany’s strength lies on its overall good performance on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Educational Attainment as well as the Political Empowerment subindex, where it ranks 11th overall. In 2014, Germany is among the top twenty countries on the three Political Empowerment indicators. Germany is fifth in terms of improvement of the Years with female head of state (female-over-male ratio) over the past nine years. However, this year, this improvement was partially offset by a decrease in the Women in ministerial position indicator. Out of the 35 countries that have provided data on the percentage share of women on boards of listed companies, Germany has the lowest percentage (2.8%). Finally, the country is among the five countries with the highest mean age of women at the birth of the first child (30 years old).

Netherlands is ranked 14th, while Latvia ranks 15th. Latvia is among the three countries from the region that have closed both the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival gender gaps. The Netherlands has the highest percentage of female part-time employment compared to the total female employment (77%) but is also third in terms of percentage of male part-time employment compared to the total male employment with 26%. France follows next, ranking in the 16th position. It is the first time that France enters the top twenty. It is the third country overall in terms of the percentage change relative to its score in 2006 (16%) and in 2013 (7%). This important rise from 70th position is mostly due to its improvement on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes. France has had the most improvement on the Legislators, senior officials and manager indicator over the past nine years and is ranked 6th in terms of the Professional and technical workers indicator over the same period of time. It is also among the top twenty countries that have made the biggest improvement on the Women in parliament indicator compared to 2006, and is the second best when it comes to improvements since 2006 on the Women in ministerial positions indicator. In this year’s ranking, France is one of the two countries from the region that have closed both the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival gender gaps. The country continues to rank low on Wage equality for similar work, but it is no longer the lowest country from the region. France is also the fourth country overall on the Women in ministerial positions indicator. Out of the 35 countries for which we have data regarding the share of women on boards of listed companies, France is second best, after Norway.

Bulgaria ranks 22nd, followed by Slovenia (23) and Moldova (25). Bulgaria has had the biggest increase over the past nine years on the Professional and technical indicator’s score. It is also the third best performing country this year of all countries in the Upper-middle income group. Finally, Bulgaria has the longest maternity leave with 410 calendar days. Moldova has the highest share of women employed in the non-agricultural sector (% of total non-agricultural employment). In the United Kingdom (26), the score has decreased compared to last year but has slightly improved compared to 2006. The UK is the third highest-ranking country in terms of length of maternity leave (273 calendar days), and is also among the five countries with the highest mean age of women at the birth of the first child (30 years old).

Luxembourg (28) follows next, with the biggest improvement in the region on the female-to-male ratio of estimated earned income compared to 2006. Spain holds the 29th position on this year’s overall ranking, with a slight improvement compared to last year’s overall score. Spain experienced a peak in its overall score in 2010 and 2011, mainly due to a peak on the Political Empowerment subindex during the same period. Spain has had the most significant drop in the region compared to 2006 on the Political Empowerment subindex, due to a drop in the female-to-male ratio of women in ministerial positions (from 1.00 to 0.44). Despite the overall important drop on the Political Empowerment subindex, Spain improved its female-to-male ratio of women in parliament compared to last year and enters the top ten best countries on this variable. Spain has also had one of the biggest improvements in the labour force participation female-to-male ratio over the past nine years. Finally, Spain is among the five countries with the highest mean age of women at the birth of the first child (30 years old).

Belarus (32) re-enters the ranking after a gap of four years due to newly available data. It is the best performing country overall this year on the Professional and technical workers indicator. It is also the best performing country from the region in 2014 on the Legislators, senior officials and managers indicator, ranking 7th. Following next are Austria (36), Portugal (39) and Kazakhstan (43). Lithuania ranks 44th, Serbia 54th and Croatia 55th. Next are Ukraine (56), Poland (57), Estonia (62) and Kyrgyz Republic (67).

Italy (69) has experienced an overall increase in its overall score in the last nine years, regressing slightly in 2010 and 2012. Compared to 2006, Italy has had increasing score on all subindexes except Educational Attainment, due to a decrease in the score of Enrolment in primary education. Italy has seen the region’s second-largest absolute increase on the female-to-male ratio of women in parliament over the past nine years. It is also among the top twenty countries that have experienced an increase of the women in ministerial position female-to-male ratio since 2006. Compared to last year, Italy has a seen a decrease on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, consolidating Italy’s place among the three countries from the region (with Malta and Turkey) that are below average on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. It is the last-place country from the region on the Wage equality for similar work indicator, taking over from France. Finally, Italy is among the five countries with the highest mean age of women at the birth of the first child (30 years old).

Next are Macedonia, FYR (70), Romania (72) and Montenegro (74), which enters the ranking for the first time this year. Macedonia has the highest numbers percentage of female R&D personnel (FTE) compared to men (55% for women and 45% for men). The Russian Federation (75) improved its overall score compared to 2006, having peaked in 2010-2011. The Russian Federation is among the top ten countries that have improved their female-to-male ratio on the Wage equality for similar work indicator over the past nine years. Compared to 2013, the Economic Participation and Opportunity and the Educational Attainment subindexes improved, whereas the Health and Survival subindex remained the same. The Political Empowerment subindex decreased due to a decline in the percentage of women in ministerial positions (from 16% to 7%). This year, the Russian Federation ranks 42nd on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and 125th on the Political Empowerment subindex. In fact, the country is among the three lowest-ranking countries in the region on this subindex. The Russian Federation ranks 8th overall on the Professional and technical workers indicator, following Armenia and Kyrgyz Republic, and ranks second on the Healthy life expectancy indicator, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.16.

Albania (83) follows, with Georgia (85) and the Slovak Republic (90) next. Albania is among the nine countries that are below average on the Health and Survival subindex this year. It is the lowest performing country from the region on the Enrolment in primary education indicator. Albania is the second-highest ranked country on the female-male gap of graduates in STEM studies (55% women, 45% men). Albania is the third-highest ranked country on female part-time employment (as % of total female employment), but is also the country with the highest male part-time employment (as % of total male employment). Albania also has the second-longest maternity leave (365 calendar days). Georgia has shown the highest absolute increase over the past nine years on the Sex ratio at birth indicator.

Greece (91) ranks 87th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and 108th on the Political Empowerment subindex this year. Next are Hungary (93), Azerbaijan (94) and Cyprus (95). Hungary is the lowest performing country from the region on the Political Empowerment subindex. Azerbaijan is among the nine countries below average on the Health and Survival subindex. Cyprus has had the most improvement in the region on the Wage equality for similar work indicator compared to 2006. The Czech Republic ranks 96th and Malta (99). Malta is the second-lowest performing country from the region, ahead only of Turkey, on the Estimated earned income indicator.

The final positions in the region are occupied by Tajikistan (102), Armenia (103) and Turkey (125). Tajikistan is the lowest performing country in the region on the secondary and tertiary education indicators. Compared to last year, Armenia’s overall score went down, mainly due to a decrease on the Health and Survival subindex score. Armenia is the lowest performing country overall on this subindex. Last year, it ranked 131st. This year, Armenia has the lowest female-to-male sex ratio at birth score in the world, placing below India, China and Vietnam. However, Armenia is the second best country overall on the Enrolment in primary education indicator. It is among the first five countries to have provided women with the right to vote, and did so in 1918. Turkey has experienced a steady improvement of its overall score since 2011. Compared to 2006, all of tis subindex scores have improved. Yet Turkey is still the lowest performing country from the OECD on the overall Index; and it is the lowest performing country from the region on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, ranking 132nd. The country ranks 128th overall on the Labour force participation indicator and is part of the twenty lowest-ranked countries on the Legislators, senior officials and managers indicator.

Latin America and the Caribbean

The Latin America and Caribbean region has closed 70% of its overall gender gap, with a steady improvement over the years. It places behind North America and Europe and Central Asia, which have closed 75% and 72% of their gender gap, respectively, but ahead of the other regions. The area for which the region has the narrowest gap is in the Health and Survival subindex (already 98% closed), followed closely by Europe and Central Asia. In terms of Educational Attainment, the region is almost on par with North America and Europe and Central Asia, having closed over 99% of the gap. On the Political Empowerment subindex, the region fares similar to last year, with around 20% of the gap closed. The region is also home to the most improved country on the overall index compared to last year: Guatemala. Compared to 2006, every country in the region has succeeded in narrowing their overall gender gap.

Nicaragua (6) is the best performer in the region and the only country from Latin America and the Caribbean to make it into the top 10, having achieved this for the third consecutive year. Since 2006, the country has recorded the highest improvement to date (20%) having now closed 79% of the gender gap. While Nicaragua still has a long way to go to close the economic participation gap, it has had one of the biggest improvements recorded since 2006 and the third-highest improvement in the region, after Guatemala and Ecuador, based on one of the largest improvements in labour force participation in the region since 2006. Its key strengths are on the Educational Attainment subindex, where it has closed 99.96% of the gender gap, and Health and Survival, where it closed the gender gap fully. It has also closed 54% of the gender gap on Political Empowerment, which, given low global standards, places it in 4th position out of 142 countries this year, the best for the region, and supported by above regional average improvements since 2006 in getting more women in to parliamentary and ministerial positions.

Ecuador (21) is the second best performer of the region. Compared to 2006, it has considerably improved its position (affording it a place in the top five best absolute climbers from 2006–2014 for the overall index) This is mainly due to a 43% improvement relative to its own score on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex in the last 9 years (largest improvement in the region), boosted by more gender parity in terms of estimated earned income, as well as more female legislators, senior officials and managers and Professional and technical workers. In the region, it has also made the most progress on getting women into parliamentary roles (42% this year). Next comes Cuba (30), which has slipped from last year. Overall, it has closed 73% of the gender gap, and has almost closed the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival gender gaps. The country is below average on Economic Participation due to low labour force participation and persistent gaps in estimated earned income and professional and technical workers. Finally, Cuba ranks 18th on the Political Empowerment subindex.

Coming in 3rd in the region and in 31st position overall this year, Argentina has closed 73% of its gender gap, up from 72% last year. More female legislators, senior officials and managers have led to improved scores on Economic Participation and Opportunity. While the country has been fluctuating over the years, it still shows a 7% improvement since 2006. It also has the greatest improvement in the region since 2006 on the Years with female head of state indicator, as eight of the last 50 years have been led by a female head of state. Barbados (33) falls slightly compared to last year due mainly to a small decrease in Wage equality for similar work and Enrolment in primary education. At 35th place, Bahamas has closed 73% of its overall gender gap, around two percentage points more than last year, due to improvements on Women in ministerial positions.

Peru (45) has closed 72% of its overall gender gap, improving almost 9% from its score in 2006, with some fluctuation between 2009 and 2012. It also shows great improvement in the overall index since last year, with a 6% improvement in its overall score compared to 2013, owing mainly to a narrowing gap in Political Empowerment where it is among the top five climbers on absolute score difference (106% relative change since 2013), as there are now more than double the number of females in ministerial positions at 44%. This is second best improvement in the region since 2006 for this indicator after Nicaragua. Peru has also managed to slightly improve the gap in literacy rate since last year. Panama (46), Costa Rica (48), Trinidad and Tobago (49), which clocks the best absolute improvement on the Health and Survival subindex since last year 2013, and Jamaica (52) come next in the region.

Colombia (53) has slightly decreased compared to last year and performs similar to 2006. It has closed 71% of its overall gender gap. Bolivia (58) also loses a few places in this year’s ranking. This is due mainly to declining estimated earned income and a lower number of women in ministerial positions, from 45 to 33. However, it has still managed to improve by 11% overall in relative terms since 2006 and, on the Educational Attainment subindex, is the country with the greatest improvement in the region for enrolment in both secondary and tertiary education during the 2006-2014 period. Guyana follows in 64th place. Chile (66) has closed 70% of its overall gender gap, a slight improvement since last year. While much remains similar to last year, there are now twice the number of women in ministerial positions (from 18% to 39%). With Michelle Bachelet back in office, the country is likely to improve in terms of women’s political empowerment over the coming year. Looking farther back to 2006, the country has now closed a further 8% of its gender gap in absolute terms. After Nicaragua, it has improved the most in terms of women’s labour force participation but also worsened the most in the world in terms of the number of women in professional and technical positions.

By far the most populous country of Latin America and with the largest GDP, Brazil comes in at 71st, having closed just below 70% of its gender gap. A slight decline in the wage equality for similar work and estimated earned income is offset by an increase in the years with a female head of state since Dilma Rousseff is now in her fourth year of her presidency. Brazil is 6% closer to closure of the gender gap overall since 2006. In the 2006-2014 period, it recorded the greatest improvement in the region in terms of primary education enrolment. Honduras, at 73rd is in a better position since last year with better wage equality for similar work and more women in parliament. It also has the highest improvement since 2006 in the region on three indicators of the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, and largest improvement in the world on the wage Equality for similar work indicator. It is followed by the Dominican Republic at 78th whose overall score has improved since last year.

Mexico is at 80th place, with a slight decrease since last year. With Educational Attainment and Health and Survival remaining similar, the country has improved its Economic Participation Opportunity boosted by a reduced labour force participation gender gap, estimated earned income and the number of legislators, senior officials and managers. However, the overall decline comes from the number of women in ministerial positions, falling from 21% to 18%. Compared to 2006 it overall score has improved by 7%, with 69% of its overall gender gap closed today. In the region, it takes 3rd place after Ecuador and Nicaragua in terms of closing the gap for women in parliaments since 2006. Paraguay (81) has gained a few points with a notable improvement in the number of female professional and technical workers and more equitable healthy life expectancy. Its neighbouring country, Uruguay, occupies the next position at 82nd, also performing slightly better than last year, followed by El Salvador (84) and Venezuela (86) which slips a few positions, mainly due to fewer women in ministerial positions (from 39% down to 16%).

Guatemala has risen to 89th place and is among the top five climbers in the overall index (compared to 2013), but also on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex since last year, ahead of all other countries in the region. Since 2006, it has also shown the most improvement in the region for economic participation of women (a 50% absolute increase compared to 2006). Finally, Belize (100) and Suriname (109) both improved by seven positions and one position, respectively.

North America

North America has closed almost 75% of its gender gap, a slight improvement from last year. The biggest change is observed in the Political Empowerment subindex, boosted mainly by a higher number of women in ministerial or equivalent positions in both countries. The region is the best performer in the overall index, as well as the Educational Attainment subindex (100% of the gender gap is closed) and Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex (82% closed), despite a slip this year in the latter. Regarding Political Empowerment, North America remains at the fifth position just ahead of Middle East and North Africa. However, it has now closed 19% of the gender gap, up from 16% last year and 10% back in 2006. Compared to 2006, the region experienced the second highest percentage change compared to its own score in 2006, just after Latin America and the Caribbean. On the Health and Survival subindex, the region shows the highest relative decrease.

Canada moves up one spot to 19th place, having closed 75% of its overall gender gap, up from 74% in 2013.  The country performs similar to last year on other subindexes, with a slight decrease on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Health and Survival subindexes and an improvement in Political Empowerment, led mainly by more women in ministerial positions (32%, up from 27%). Looking further back to 2006, Canada has closed 4% more of the gender gap than it had in 2006.

After a slip to 23rd position last year, the United States (20) makes it back into the top 20, having closed nearly 75% of its gender gap. On the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, the country ranks 4th out of 142 countries. This year, parity has been surpassed for professional and technical workers, where 55% are now women. The country is also among the twenty best countries on the Legislators, senior officials and managers indicator, although out of the 131 countries which present data on the Ability of women to rise to positions of enterprise leadership, the United States ranks 50th. In addition, the country has closed 86% of its labour force participation gap. On the Educational Attainment subindex, the United States had closed its gender gap but ranks now at the 39th position due to a minor decrease in primary education. On the Health and Survival subindex, the country has slightly decreased compared to last year. The greatest change however comes from the Political Empowerment subindex, with an increase in women in ministerial level positions (32% compared to 27% last year). Over the 2006-2014 period, the country improved by almost 6% in the overall index.

The Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa region closed 60% of its overall gender gap this year. Despite experiencing the biggest absolute improvement compared to 2013, the region remains in the sixth position. It continues to rank last on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, with only 42% of the economic gender gap closed. On the Educational Attainment subindex, the region surpassed Asia and the Pacific, ranking in fourth place with 93% of the educational gender gap closed. The Middle East and North Africa region ranks fifth on the Health and Survival subindex, with 97% of the health gender gap being closed, slightly ahead of the Sub-Saharan Africa region. It ranked in the fourth position last year on that subindex. Finally, on the Political Empowerment subindex, the region continues to rank sixth, with only 8% of the political gender gap closed. Compared to 2006, the region saw the third-largest improvement on the overall Index score, just behind North America and Latin America and the Caribbean. The region has also shown the third largest relative change compared to its own 2006 overall Index score.

By 2014, no country from the region has closed its Educational Attainment gender gap or its Health and Survival gender gap. On the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, three countries from the region are above average: Israel, Qatar and Kuwait. On the Political Empowerment subindex, all countries’ scores are below average. On that subindex, Israel and Algeria are the two best performing countries. Out of the 16 countries from the region, 13 are part of the twenty lowest performing countries on the Labour force participation and Legislators, senior officials and managers indicators. The highest-ranking economies of the region have made vast investments in increasing women’s education levels in the last decade. In Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Oman, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran, Islamic Rep. the tertiary enrolment rates for women are higher than those of men. However, most countries from the region have had varying degrees of success at integrating women into the economy and in decision-making in order to reap the benefits of this investment.

Israel (65) continues to hold the top spot in the Middle East and North Africa region, despite a decline in its overall score due to a decrease on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex score. Israel is the best-performing country from the region on the Labour force participation and Legislators, senior officials and managers indicators. It is also the second lowest performing country in the overall Index on the Wage equality for similar work indicator.

Kuwait (113) has become this year the top-performing country among the Arab countries due to an increase in the estimated earned income ratio. This increase, due to revised data on GDP per capita, is the highest increase overall on that indicator compared to 2006. Kuwait is among the three countries from the region that are above average on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. It is, however, among the ten lowest performing countries on the Health and Survival and Political Empowerment subindexes. On the Educational Attainment subindex, Kuwait ranks 76th globally.

Kuwait is closely followed by the United Arab Emirates (115), which improved relative to its own past performance. The country is below average on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes, but above average on the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival subindexes. The UAE ranks seventh on Wage equality for similar work and is the second best country from the region after Israel on the Estimated earned income indicator. It is also the best country from the region on the Literacy rate indicator. United Arab Emirates is the country with the highest percentage change relative to its own 2006 score on the Political Empowerment subindex. Overall, in the last 9 years, the country closed just over 5% of the gender gap.

Next are Qatar (116), Tunisia (123) and Bahrain (124). Qatar is among the three countries from the region that are above average on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, but is also among the two countries from the region that are below average on the Health and Survival subindex. Qatar is also the third-lowest performing country overall on the Political Empowerment subindex with no Women in parliament. It is also the country with the highest score overall on the Enrolment in tertiary education indicator. Bahrain is followed by Algeria (126) and Oman (128). Algeria is the second-best country from the region on the Political Empowerment subindex due to its high score on the Women in parliament indicator (32% of parliamentarians are women). It is, however, part of the ten lowest-performing countries overall on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, with low performances on the Labour force participation, the Estimated earned income and Legislators, senior officials and managers indicator.

Egypt holds the 129th position this year. The country’s overall score improved steadily from 2006 to 2014 with a slight decrease in 2013. This year, the country ranks at the 131st position on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and performs above average on both the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival subindexes. It is, however, among the ten lowest performing countries overall on the Political Empowerment subindex. Egypt is among the five countries overall with a higher percentage of female students enrolled in STEM studies compared to men.

Egypt is followed by Saudi Arabia (130). Saudi Arabia continues to be the lowest-performing country among high-income countries, but is among the five countries with the highest percentage change relative to their own 2006 score. This important rise is due to improvements in performancy on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, and especially the Professional and technical workers indicator over the past nine years. The country loses three places compared to last year but its overall score improved. Saudi Arabia is among the ten lowest-performing countries on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and among the four countries overall with no female ministers. Finally, it is the second-lowest performing country on the Ability of women to rise to positions of enterprise leadership indicator, just ahead of Angola.

Next are Mauritania (131), Morocco (133) and Jordan (134). Mauritania is the lowest-performing country from the region on the Enrolment in tertiary education indicator. Morocco is among five countries with the highest absolute and relative decrease on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex over the past nine years. This year, Morocco continues to be part of the twenty lowest performing countries on the Literacy rate indicator. Jordan is part of the five countries with the highest absolute decrease in its overall score. Jordan is followed by Lebanon (135). Lebanon is the second-lowest performing country of the upper-middle income group. It is among the ten lowest-performing countries on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, but is also second to-last overall on the Political Empowerment subindex, with only 3% of female parliamentarians and no female minister.

Syria (139) and Yemen (142) occupy the last places in the regional ranking. Syria is the lowest-performing country overall on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, with the lowest score overall on the Labour force participation indicator. While it is the top-performing country overall on the Healthy life expectancy indicator, this particular indicator reflects the situation in 2012. Yemen, while ranked low since the start of the Index, presents a steadily improving score as of 2011 and is among the five countries with the highest absolute improvement in Educational Attainment scores compared to 2006. This year, Yemen is the lowest performing country of the lower-middle income group and continues to occupy the last place in the region and overall despite the fact that it is the ninth top climber of the 111 countries that have been included in the Report since 2006.

Asia and the Pacific

As of 2014, the Asia and the Pacific region has closed 66% of its overall gender gap, moving down from the third to the second lowest position compared to last year. Of the 18 countries in the region, 11 have improved their overall score, six have seen their overall score decrease and one has stayed the same compared to last year. The region continues to rank second from last on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex (with 55% of its gender gap closed), and its score on that subindex decreased compared to 2013. On the Educational Attainment (93% of gender gap closed) and Health and Survival (95% of gender gap closed) subindexes, the region improved slightly compare to last year. Conversely, on the Political Empowerment subindex, the gender gap increased slightly (from 24% gender gap closed to 23% gender gap closed).

Compared to 2006, the region has experienced an increase of 5.1% of its overall score. On the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, the Asia and the Pacific region has seen the smallest increase (4.4%) from 2006 compared to the other five regions. It improved 3.7% on the Educational Attainment subindex, went down by 0.5% on the Health and Survival subindex and improved by 49% on the Political Empowerment subindex relative to its starting point in 2006. This is the second-lowest improvement on that subindex compared to the other five regions.

In 2014, two countries from the region are among the top twenty best countries on the overall index: the Philippines and New Zealand. The Philippines is also the only country from the region that has closed both its Educational Attainment and Health and Survival gender gaps. On the Health and Survival subindex, out of the nine countries with scores below average, three are from this region. On both the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes, four countries of the top twenty are from the region. Six countries from the region rank in the top twenty countries on the Wage equality for similar work indicator. Yet five countries from the region are among the twenty countries that have performed the lowest on the Estimated earned income indicator. Seven countries from the region are among the twenty lowest-performing countries on the Professional and technical workers indicator. On both the Sex ratio at birth and Health life expectancy indicators, five countries from the region are among the twenty lowest-performing countries. Two countries from the region, Brunei Darussalam and Pakistan, have no female minister and no country from the region is part of the top twenty best-performing countries on that indicator. Five countries from the region are part of the top ten best-performing countries on the Head of state indicator, with India being the country overall with the highest numbers of years with a female head of state (over the past 50 years).

Philippines (9) is for the first time the only country from the region that is in the top ten best performing countries on the overall Index. The country is also the second best performing country of the lower-middle income group. It ranks 24th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and 17th on the Political Empowerment subindex. It is the only country from the region that has closed both the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival gender gaps. The country is part of the top ten on the Wage equality for similar work and Legislators, senior officials and managers indicators. The country was led by a female head of state for 16 of the last 50 years. Since 2008, it has seen an improvement in its overall score—except in 2014, which was due to a decrease in the Health and Survival and Political Empowerment subindex scores). The Philippines has experienced a 4% change relative to its 2006 overall score. This is mainly due to improvements on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes (the latter improved by 37% since 2006). The Philippines is the second best country (just after Norway) on the Ability of women to rise to positions of enterprise leadership indicator, and the country with the highest percentage of firms with female participation in ownership (69%).

2014 is the first time that New Zealand (13) is not part of the top ten best performing countries on the overall Index. The country has closed its Educational Attainment gender gap and is part of the top 15 best-performing countries on the Political Empowerment subindex. New Zealand is the first country where women received the right to vote, in 1893. Australia (24) has seen an improvement of its score compared to 2006. This is mainly due to improvements on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes. These improvements were slightly offset by a decrease of the Health and Survival subindex. While its Educational Attainment gender gap has closed, the country ranks 14th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. Compared to last year, the Political Empowerment subindex has worsened, while its performance on the Health and Survival subindex remains the same. Australia is the second best country overall on the Estimated earned income indicator.

Next are Mongolia (42), Singapore (59), Lao PDR (60) and Thailand (61). Mongolia ranks 10th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and has closed its Health and Survival gender gap. Mongolia is the second-best country overall on the Wage equality for similar work indicator and is the best country from the region on the Professional and technical workers and Healthy life expectancy indicators. Singapore ranks 18th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. It is also the country with the lowest total fertility rate. Lao PDR ranks 13th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and fifth on the Labour force participation indicator. Thailand has closed its Health and Survival gender gap and ranks fourth on the Wage equality for similar work indicator. It is also among the countries that have had the largest decrease of their score on the Political Empowerment subindexes compared to last year.

Bangladesh (68) follows next and has achieved its highest ever overall score. Compared to 2006, Bangladesh has experienced important improvements on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival subindexes. Bangladesh ranks 127th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, with a score well below the subindex average. The country is among the ten lowest-performing countries on the Legislators, senior officials and manager and Professional and technical workers indicators. It ranks 111th on the Educational Attainment subindex and is the best performing country from the region on the Enrolment in primary education indicator and among the top 10 countries on the Enrolment in secondary education indicator. Bangladesh ranks 122nd on the Health and Survival subindex and is part of the twenty lowest-performing countries on the Healthy life expectancy indicator. Its strength lies in Political Empowerment, where the country ranks 10th, due to a very high score on the Years with female head of state indicator (it has had 21 years with a female head of state out of the past 50 years). After Mali, Bangladesh is the second-ranked country with the highest percentage of women (15-19 years old) in early marriage. The female singulate mean age at marriage is one of the lowest, at 18.6 years. Bangladesh is also one of the countries with the lowest percentage of firms with female top managers and with female participation in ownership.

Vietnam (76) and Sri Lanka (79) follow next. Vietnam is among the three countries from the region with below-average scores on the Health and Survival subindex. Vietnam is the second-lowest country overall on the Sex ratio at birth indicator. This score is partially offset by its high score on the Healthy life expectancy indicator. Sri Lanka’s gender gap on Health and Survival remains closed. Its high performance on the Wage equality for similar work indicator is offset by a low score on the Estimated earned income indicator. The country ranks 13th on the Enrolment in tertiary education indicator. Very low scores on the Women in parliament and Women in ministerial positions indicators are offset by a high score on the Years with a female head of state indicator, with 21 years with a female head of state out of the last 50.

China (87) saw its overall score improve compared to 2006 due to advances on all four subindexes. Relative to 2013, China has however experienced a slight decrease of its score due to a drop in the scores of the Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment and Political Empowerment subindexes. This year, China ranks 76th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and 89th on the Educational Attainment subindex. China is among the nine countries that are below average on the Health and Survival subindex. China is also among the five lowest-performing countries on the Sex ratio at birth indicator. China ranks 72nd on the Political Empowerment subindex, 56th on the Labour force participation indicator, 48th on the Professional and technical workers indicator (with a higher percentage of women than men), but 101st on the Legislators, senior officials and managers indicator. On the other hand, China is the country with the second highest percentage of firms with female participation in ownership.

Indonesia (97) improved compared to 2006 due to improvements on all three of the four subindexes; there was a slight decrease on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. Compared to 2013, the country experienced an improvement, mostly due to an important increase in the Educational Attainment subindex with one of the highest percentage changes relative to 2013 on that subindex. Indonesia ranks 108th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, 78th on the Educational Attainment subindex, 58th on the Health and Survival subindex and 86th on the Political Attainment subindex. After Norway and France, Indonesia has the third-highest percentage of women on boards of listed companies.

Brunei Darussalam (98) ranks 36th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and 88th on the Educational Attainment subindex. The country is among the top performing countries on the Enrolment in tertiary education indicator. In Brunei Darussalam, 51% of student enrolled in STEM studies are female and 49% are male. It also has one of the highest percentage of graduates in STEM studies well as PhD graduates compared to men. However, Brunei Darussalam ranks 126th on the Health and Survival subindex. This is mostly due to a very low score on the Healthy life expectancy indicator. Finally, Brunei Darussalam is the lowest-performing country overall on the Political Empowerment subindex. It has no women in the parliamentary equivalent and is among four countries with no female minister.

Japan (104) demonstrated an overall increase from 2006 to 2014 with two score decreases in 2011 and 2013. Japan experienced a 2% increase of its overall score relative to its 2006 score due to an improvement on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. Japan’s score also improved compared to last year due to improvements on all subindexes except Political Empowerment. This year, Japan ranks 102nd on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, 93rd on the Educational Attainment subindex, 37th on the Health and Survival subindex and 129th on the Political Empowerment subindex. Japan has the lowest percentage of women on boards of listed companies and is among the countries with the highest difference between female and male average minutes spent per day on unpaid work. Japan is among the countries with the biggest differences between the percentage of female and male students enrolled and graduating in STEM studies. There is a similar situation for the percentage of PhD graduates. Finally, the mean age of women at the birth of the first child is one of the highest, at 29 years old.

Next are Maldives (105), Malaysia (107) and Cambodia (108). Maldives has the lowest performance in the region on the Healthy life expectancy indicator and ranks 129th on the Women in parliament indicator. Compared to 2006, Malaysia is among the five countries with the highest negative percentage change on the Educational Attainment subindex. Yet the country is also one of the top five performing countries on the Wage equality for similar work indicator. Cambodia continues to maintain a closed Health and Survival gender gap, whereas its score on the Educational Attainment subindex is below average. Though it is among the top twenty best-performing countries on the Labour force participation indicator, it ranks 108th on the Professional and technical workers indicator. Cambodia has the region’s highest difference between women and men in percentage of student enrolled and graduates in STEM studies.

Nepal (112) experienced the second highest percentage change (18%) relative to its score in 2006. This is due to important improvements in the Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment subindexes. In 2014, Nepal ranks 122nd on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and its score is below average on the Educational Attainment subindex. It ranks 88th on the Health and Survival subindex and 61st on the Political Empowerment subindex. Nepal ranks 16th on the Labour force participation indicator, but this high score is offset by a low score on the Legislators, senior officials and managers and Professional and technical workers indicators. The country is also among the lowest-performing countries on the Literacy rate and Enrolment in tertiary education indicators.

India (114) has experienced a steady improvement of its overall score since 2010, with a slight decrease in 2014 due to a drop in scores on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Educational Attainment subindexes. Since 2006, India has experienced the largest decrease (in absolute and relative value) on its Health and Survival subindex score because of an important drop in its Sex ratio at birth score. In 2014, India is below average on three subindexes: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment and Health and Survival. In fact, it is the second-lowest performing country on Health and Survival, just ahead of Armenia. On the other hand, India is among the top twenty best-performing countries on the Political Empowerment subindex. India is part of the twenty worst-performing countries on the Labour force participation, Estimated earned income, Literacy rate and Sex ratio at birth indicators. India is the highest-ranked country on the Years with female head of state (over the past 50 years) indicator. India has the highest difference between women and men on the average minutes spent per day on unpaid work—a difference of 300 minutes. It is also among the countries with the highest difference in the female and male percentage of total R&D personnel (FTE). India has one of the lowest percentages of firms with female participation in ownership.

Korea Rep. (117) improved over 2013. Its overall rank, however, has decreased due to the introduction of Liberia in the ranking and due to bigger improvements mostly from Nepal and Qatar. Korea Rep. ranks below average (124th) on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex and 103rd on the Educational Attainment subindex. On Health and Survival, Korea Rep. ranks 74th; on Political Empowerment, it ranks 93rd. Korea Rep. is one of the ten lowest-performing countries on the Wage equality for similar work indicator (which is a slight decrease compared to last year). This decrease is offset by improvements on the scores of the Estimated earned income and Legislators, senior officials and managers indicators. Korea Rep. is one of the countries with the biggest difference between female and male percentage of total R&D personnel. Finally, Korea Rep. is the country with the second-lowest total fertility rate per women (1.3), just ahead of Singapore.

Bhutan (120) ranks lower this year mainly due to a decrease on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Health and Survival subindexes. Bhutan is one of the six countries in the region with scores below average on the Educational Attainment subindex. Fiji (122) has closed its Health and Survival gender gap, but is one of the ten lowest-performing countries on the Political Empowerment subindex.

Iran, Islamic Rep. (137) is the lowest-performing country in the upper-middle income group. Its score has improved slightly since 2006, but actually decreased compared to 2013. The country’s scores are below average on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex (139th) and the Political Empowerment subindex (135th). Iran, Islamic Rep. is part of the five lowest performing countries on the Labour force participation indicator but it is also among the countries with a higher percentage of women in tertiary education compared to men. This highlights the vast investment in increasing women’s education and that there is a real potential at integrating women into the economy in order to reap the benefits of this investment.

Pakistan (141) occupies the last place in the regional ranking. The country’s score has fluctuated over the past nine years, ending with a slight improvement compared to 2006. On the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, Pakistan has experienced one of the highest negative percentage changes relative to its 2006 score. Yet it has achieved one of the highest percentage changes relative to its own 2006 score on the Educational Attainment subindex—even the score still falls below the 2014 world average on that subindex. Pakistan ranks 141st on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex this year. It is one of the ten lowest-performing countries on all indicators of this subindex with the exception of Wage equality for similar work. Pakistan is one of the three countries with the lowest percentage of firms with female participation in ownership. Finally, the country ranks 119th on the Health and Survival subindex and 85th on the Political Empowerment subindex.

Sub-Saharan Africa

As of 2014, the Sub-Saharan Africa region has closed 67% of its overall gender gap, showing a slight increase compared to 2013. The region has closed 69% of its Economic Participation and Opportunity gender gap and 20% on the Political Empowerment gap. Sub-Saharan Africa closed 82% of its Educational Attainment gender gap and 97% of its Health and Survival gap. Since 2006, the region (19 countries were included from 2006 to 2014) has experienced an increase of its overall score of 4.8%, moving from 0.64 to 0.67. This is the third-smallest increase compared to other regions. Only Europe and Central Asia has seen a lower increase.

Regional performance improved by 8.8% on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex compared to 2006, and over the same period the region significantly improved its Political Empowerment by 71%. It is the only region with a decrease on the Educational Attainment subindex, and it experienced the fourth-smallest decrease in its Health and Survival subindex.

In 2014, regarding the overall Index, Rwanda, Burundi and South Africa rank among the top 20 countries, with Rwanda included in the rankings for the first time. Among the top 20 performing countries on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex are Malawi, Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique and Burundi. Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia are among the 25 countries that have fully closed their Educational Attainment gender gaps. On the Health and Survival subindex, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are among the 35 countries that have closed their gender gap. Mali ranks among the 10 lowest-performing countries on that subindex. On the Political Empowerment subindex, Rwanda, South Africa and Mozambique are three of the top 20 performing countries from the region.

Nine countries from Sub-Saharan Africa are in the top 20 on the Labour force participation indicator, with Malawi topping the ranking. Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Burundi all have a higher representation of women in the labour force than men. Burundi tops the ranking of the equality survey indicator and is, along with Zambia, the two countries from the region in the top 10. Lesotho tops the Literacy rate ranking and, together with Namibia and Botswana, has a higher literacy rate among females than males. Eight of the ten lowest-ranked countries on this indicator are from the region. Mali is one of the 10 lowest-ranked countries on the Healthy life expectancy indicator. Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal are among the top 10 ranking countries on the Women in parliament indicator, with Rwanda ranking first and the only country that has more women in parliament than men.

Compared to 2006, Angola and Zimbabwe are among the five best climbers on the Health and Survival subindex from 2006, while Ethiopia, Nigeria and Angola are among the five countries that have experienced the lowest increase since 2006 score on Educational Attainment. Mali is among the countries with the lowest increase relative to 2006 scores on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Health and Survival subindexes.

Rwanda  (7) is the strongest performer from the region, ranking among the top 10 countries in the overall ranking. The overall high ranking can be explained by Rwanda’s strong performance on the Political Empowerment subindex and good performance on Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. However, this performance is slightly offset by lower scores and wider gender gaps in Health and Survival and Education. Rwanda closed its gender gap on Labour force participation, Enrolment in primary education, Sex ratio at birth and Women in parliament.

Burundi (17) is among the top five performing countries from the region and top 20 overall. Burundi performs highest on the Economic Participation subindex and has closed its Health and Survival gender gap. It improved on its overall 2013 score of 0.740 to 0.757 in 2014. South Africa (18) has been among the top 20 performing countries in the overall Index since 2006. This year, it ranks in the top three countries from the region. The country ranks 83th on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, having increased its score from 0.556 to 0.647 since 2006. South Africa slightly decreased its performance on Educational Attainment, moving from a score of 0.993 in 2006 to a score of 0.987 in 2014. On the Health and Survival subindex, the country ranks first, having closed 98% of its gender gap. On the Political Empowerment subindex, South Africa has consistently improved its performance, with a 2014 score of 0.397 compared to a score of 0.326 in 2006, and is performing relatively well as compared to other countries, ranking 12th on the subindex in 2014.

Mozambique (27) improved its overall score from 0.735 in 2013 to 0.737 in 2014. The country ranks in the top 20 on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes, but performs below average overall on Educational Attainment and low in Health and Survival. Mozambique ranks among the top five countries on the Labour force participation indicator. The country is among the lowest-performing countries globally on Literacy rate, Enrolment in primary and Enrolment in secondary education. However, Mozambique is among the highest-performing countries in the region on Estimated earned income, Women in parliament and Years with female head of state.

Since 2006, Malawi (34) has increased its performance on the overall Index, and between 2013 and 2014 it increased its score from 0.714 to 0.728. The country ranks in the top five on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, tops the ranking on Labour force participation and is a top regional performer on Enrolment in primary education and Sex ratio at birth. Malawi remains low on the Literacy rate indicator. The country is among the best climbers compared to 2006 on the overall index. Kenya (37) is among the best climbers on the overall Index compared to 2013, with a percentage change of 7% relative to its 2013 score. The country is ranked among the top 10 countries on the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. It has achieved a lower score on Educational Attainment (below overall average) mainly due to its low performance on the Enrolment in tertiary education indicator. Kenya is one of the highest-performing countries in the region on the Estimated earned income indicator. Lesotho (38) has seen a significant drop in overall score and ranking compared to 2013. Though the country has closed its Educational Attainment gap, it has reduced scores on the three other subindexes.

Namibia (40) is one of the countries from the region that has managed to close its Educational Attainment gap. For the first time it has also closed the gap on Health and Survival, due to significant improvements in the Healthy life expectancy. The country is the second-highest ranked country from the region on Legislators, senior officials and managers and one of the best performing countries on Literacy rate. Madagascar (41) has consistently improved its overall score and ranking since 2006 with two slight decreases in 2009 and 2010. The country is among the top 10 on Labour force participation and closed its gender gap on Enrolment in primary education and secondary education; yet it ranks low on Literacy rate and Enrolment in tertiary education. Tanzania (47) improved its overall score since 2013. The drivers for this trend are improvements on the Economic Participation, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment subindexes. The country ranks among the region’s highest-performing countries on Labour force participation and Estimated earned income. The country has seen low performance on Educational Attainment since 2006 and decreased in performance on this indicator in 2014. Cape Verde (50) is one of the countries that has closed its gender gap on the Health and Survival subindex. It has the highest number of Women in ministerial positions in the region, placing among the top five countries globally.

Botswana (51) has increased its 2013 score of 0.675 to 0.713 this year. The country closed its Educational Attainment gap and jumped forty positions on the Economic Participation subindex. The country increased its score on the Estimated earned income and Legislators, senior officials and managers indicators. In fact, it is one of the region’s top performers on Estimated earned income, and has also closed the gender gap on Professional and technical workers. Botswana is among the best climbers Health and Survival subindex compared to 2013. Zimbabwe (63) is one of the three countries from the region that has closed its gender gap on Health and Survival. However, it ranks low on Educational Attainment due to its literacy rate, enrolment in secondary education and enrolment in tertiary education. Zimbabwe has closed its gender gap in enrolment in primary education.

Senegal (77) has declined in score on all subindexes except Economic Participation. Similar to Zimbabwe, it ranks low on Literacy rate, Enrolment in secondary education and Enrolment in tertiary education and has closed its gender gap in Enrolment in primary education. Uganda (88) significantly dropped in rank and score due to a steep decline on Economic Participation and Health and Survival indicators. Among Economic Participation indicators, it ranks particularly low on Estimated earned income. On the Health and Survival indicators it ranks low on Healthy life expectancy. Uganda is among the top 10 performers on the Labour force participation indicator.  Swaziland (92) is included for the first time in this year’s Global Gender Gap Report. The country has closed its gender gap on the Health and Survival subindex as well as on the Enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education indicators; but it still has a low performance on Literacy rate. Ghana (101) has dropped its overall score, due to a steep decline on Economic Participation and Opportunity indicators; in particular, the Professional and technical workers. However, it is among the top 10 countries on the Labour force participation indicator.

Mauritius (106) saw its score decrease over 2013, but since 2006 it has improved its overall ranking. Mauritius is one of the countries from the region that has closed its Health and Survival gender gap and the gap in Enrolment in secondary and tertiary education. Burkina Faso (110) slightly decreased its overall score, performing above average on Economic Participation and Opportunity and Health and Survival scores and below average on both Political Empowerment and Educational Attainment. Liberia (111) entered the rankings for the first time this year. It ranks above average on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Health and Survival subindexes and below average on Educational Attainment and Political Empowerment. Liberia is the second-lowest ranked country with regard to literacy. It also ranks near the bottom of the low-income bracket, just ahead of Nepal, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali and Chad.

Nigeria (118) has decreased in overall ranking from 2013 to 2014. Though Nigeria performs above average on Economic Participation and Opportunity and Health and Survival indicators, it remains below average on Educational Attainment and Political Empowerment scores. Nigeria is one of the ten lowest-ranked countries in terms of primary and secondary education. Zambia (119) ranks among the top 10 countries on the equality survey and 10 lowest performing countries regarding professionals and technical workers. Angola (121) saw its overall score fall since 2013, but improve since 2006. Angola worsened in terms of Healthy life expectancy compared to last year, where the gender gap had been closed. Angola is also the lowest-ranked country on Wage equality for similar work and Ability of women to rise to positions of enterprise leadership. The five lowest-ranked countries from the region are Ethiopia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Chad. All five countries are also among the lowest-ranked countries on Literacy rate and Enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education (with the exception of Côte d’Ivoire for tertiary education).

Ethiopia (127) saw its overall score fall, with specific decreases on the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival subindexes. Ethiopia is one of the lowest performing countries from the region when it comes to professional and technical workers. It is also the country with the lowest result on Antenatal care coverage, at least one visit (%) and Births attended by skilled health personnel (%). This year, Guinea (132) entered the rankings for the first time. The country is the second-lowest ranked country on Educational Attainment. Côte d’Ivoire (136) improved its overall score slightly, while the country observed a significantly decreased performance on the Health and Survival subindex compared to last year.

Mali (138) decreased on all subindexes, in particular on the Health and Survival Index, where it ranks second lowest on the Healthy life expectancy indicator. Mali is also the country with the highest total fertility rate—at 6.9 children per women—as well as the highest adolescent fertility rate (defined as births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19). Chad (140) is the lowest-performing country in the region. This is attributed mainly to the country’s performance on the Educational Attainment subindex, where it ranks last. Chad is one of the ten lowest-ranked countries on Literacy rate and Enrolment in primary education, and the lowest-ranked country on Enrolment in secondary and Enrolment in tertiary education. Finally, Chad is the country with the lowest percentage of contraceptive prevalence, married women or in-union (% any method). Nevertheless, Chad improved its overall score relative to 2013 and 2006.