Global Gender Gap by Country 2026

The annual Global Gender Gap Index measures gender gaps in 156 countries around the globe. The rankings are based on the equality of genders across four areas: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Political Empowerment, and Health and Survival. The index assigns a score of 0 percent to 100 percent, with 0 being the lowest possible gender equality (and highest gender gap) and 100 being the most significant gender equality (and lowest gender gap).

In the 2023 index, Afghanistan has the highest gender gap at 43 percent. The index gives an educational attainment score of 48 percent and an economic opportunity and parity score of 17.6 percent. Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, has the next-highest gender gap at 56.4 percent. The rest of the bottom five countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 57.5 percent, Iran at 57.6 percent, and Chad at 57.9 percent.

The lowest gender gap in 2023 was in Iceland, which has an index of 90.8 percent. Educational opportunities are just about equal for men and women in Iceland, and the economic participation and opportunity score is 80.3 percent. Finland, also in Northern Europe, also has a relatively low gender gap. Its overall score is 86 percent. Nearby Norway has a score of 84.5 percent. Although women and men have about equal educational attainment, Norway’s economic participation and opportunity score is only 49.2 percent. New Zealand and Sweden round out the top five countries with the lowest gender gaps. New Zealand scored 84.1 percent on the index, while Sweden scored 82.2 percent.

North American countries generally scored in the upper-middle section of the rankings. The United States scored 76.9 percent, Canada scored 77.2 percent, and Mexico scored 76 percent. Costa Rica scored 79 percent, Panama scored 74.3 percent, and Nicaragua scored 80 percent. In the Caribbean, Jamaica scored 74.9, and Barbados, 76.5 percent.

South American countries tended toward the lower-middle section of the range. Argentina has the lowest gender gap at 75.6 percent, while Brazil has the highest at 69.6 percent.

The scores in African nations varied widely. Rwanda, at 81.1 percent, had the lowest gender gap in Africa. Chad, at 57.9 percent, had the highest.