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 Norway (1) leads the world in closing the gender gap between men and women, according to the overall ranking in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2008. Three other Nordic countries – Finland (2), Sweden (3) and Iceland (4) – also top the Report’s Gender Gap Index. Previously higher ranking countries such as Germany (11), United Kingdom (13) and Spain (17) slipped down the Index but stayed in the top 20, while Netherlands (9), Latvia (10), Sri Lanka (12) and France (15) made significant gains. Featuring a total of 130 countries, this year’s Report provides an insight into the gaps between women and men in over 92% of the world’s population.
Click on the links in the right hand column to learn more about the Report 2008; the rankings (PDF I Excel); country profiles; photos and the press release.
View interviews of the Report co-authors:
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Saadia Zahidi
Associate Director and Head of Constituents, World Economic Forum
November 2008 - 4min 36sec
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Laura D. Tyson
University of California, Berkeley
November 2008 - 3min 09sec
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The Report 2008 was supported by Women Leaders Programme Partners:
Ernst & Young
Goldman Sachs
Manpower
McKinsey & Company
NYSE Euronext
Renault-Nissan
The Global Gender Gap Report 2007
Last year, Sweden (1), Norway (2), Finland (3) and Iceland (4) topped the rankings in the Global Gender Gap Report 2007. All countries in the top 20 made progress relative to their scores last year – some more so than others. Latvia (13) and Lithuania (14) made the biggest advances among the top 20, gaining six and seven places respectively, driven by smaller gender gaps in labour force participation and wages. The Report covers a total of 128 countries, representing over 90% of the world’s population.
The Global Gender Gap Report 2007 I Report 2007 (PDF) I The rankings (PDF I Excel) I Country profiles I Photos I Press release.
Gender Gap Heatmaps
  2007 Heatmap
Economic
Education
Political
Health & survival
The Report examines four critical areas of inequality between men and women:
1. Economic participation and opportunity – outcomes on salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment
2. Educational attainment – outcomes on access to basic and higher level education
3. Political empowerment – outcomes on representation in decision-making structures
4. Health and survival – outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio
The Gender Gap Index assesses countries on how well they are dividing their resources and opportunities among their male and female populations, regardless of the overall levels of these resources and opportunities. By providing a comprehensible framework for assessing and comparing global gender gaps and by revealing those countries that are role models in dividing these resources equitably between women and men, serves as a catalyst for greater awareness as well as greater exchange between policymakers.
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