World gender gap index 2013 - Iceland first, Finland second

World gender gap index 2013: see how countries compare

Iceland has been named the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world by the World economic Forum. See how countries compare on the gender gap index 2013
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Iceland is the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world according to the World Economic Forum's gender gap index. Photograph: © Jose Fuste Raga/CORBIS

Iceland has been named the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world, for the fifth consecutive year, by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The annual gender gap index places Iceland in first place with Finland following in second.
Norway, Sweden and the Philippines take third, fourth and fifth place respectively in the index which looks at four key areas – health (life expectancy, etc), access to education, economic participation (salaries, job type and seniority) and political engagement.
According to the report, Iceland's overall score was strengthened due to improvements in the 'economic participation and opportunity' and the 'political empowerment' subindexes whereas Finland held onto second place despite slight losses in its overall score due to a decrease in its 'economic participation and opportunity' score.
The UK ranks 18 out of 136 countries - the same position as last year. The WEF stress that this "highlights some important points that the UK must address if it is to truly tackle its gender gap as there are worrisome points across all four pillars."
Click on the image to explore the interactive created by the World Economic Forum Overall the UK is given a score of 0.744, putting it above Austria, Canada and Luxembourg but below Cuba, Lesotho and South Africa. Of the four pillars used for assessment, the UK is ranked 29th for political empowerment, 31st for educational attainment, 35th for economic participation and opportunity and 92nd for health and survival. Click on the image above to explore the interactive heat map created by the WEF.
Regional performance on the overall index score and by subindexes is also covered in the report. In the overall index score, North America takes first position having closed 74% of its gender gap according to the WEF. The Middle East and North Africa region take last place having closed almost 59% of its gender gap. If you look at regional performance across the four indicators then North America comes top for economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment and health and survival. Asia and the Pacific, however, lead the way in the political empowerment subindex according to the latest release.
The table below shows how each country is ranked in the 2013 gender gap index overall and by subindex. The downloadable spreadsheet has data over time and regional breakdowns. For methodology of the index visit the WEF website.

Gender gap index 2013 rankings

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Country	Overall rank	Economic Participation and Opportunity rank	Educational Attainment rank	Health and Survival rank	Political Empowerment rank
Iceland	1	22	1	97	1
Finland	2	19	1	1	2
Norway	3	1	1	93	3
Sweden	4	14	38	69	4
Philippines	5	16	1	1	10
Ireland	6	29	34	65	6
New Zealand	7	15	1	93	12
Denmark	8	25	1	64	11
Switzerland	9	23	66	72	16
Nicaragua	10	91	28	55	5
Belgium	11	34	67	47	14
Latvia	12	17	1	1	26
Netherlands	13	26	44	93	22
Germany	14	46	86	49	15
Cuba	15	65	30	63	13
Lesotho	16	18	1	1	35
South Africa	17	78	54	102	8
United Kingdom	18	35	31	92	29
Austria	19	69	1	47	19
Canada	20	9	1	49	42
Luxembourg	21	7	1	85	51
Burundi	22	3	114	99	31
United States	23	6	1	33	60
Australia	24	13	1	69	43
Ecuador	25	90	52	55	17
Mozambique	26	11	124	112	18
Bolivia	27	57	99	84	23
Lithuania	28	21	60	34	47
Barbados	29	10	1	1	63
Spain	30	76	40	75	27
Costa Rica	31	98	1	62	21
Kazakhstan	32	20	69	1	65
Mongolia	33	2	49	1	108
Argentina	34	101	42	1	24
Colombia	35	39	45	34	55
Trinidad and Tobago	36	47	51	130	38
Panama	37	45	43	61	48
Slovenia	38	43	26	75	54
Malawi	39	4	112	101	56
Bahamas	40	5	1	1	124
Cape Verde	41	96	97	1	25
Serbia	42	59	55	111	39
Bulgaria	43	49	64	34	58
Namibia	44	53	1	105	52
France	45	67	1	1	45
Uganda	46	37	123	1	28
Jamaica	47	36	80	1	74
Guyana	48	102	1	45	33
Croatia	49	61	47	34	50
Venezuela	50	89	33	1	37
Portugal	51	66	56	83	46
Moldova	52	32	74	34	87
Israel	53	56	82	93	57
Poland	54	73	37	34	49
Sri Lanka	55	109	48	1	30
Madagascar	56	51	93	74	61
Macedonia	57	71	75	128	40
Singapore	58	12	105	85	90
Estonia	59	41	59	34	88
Lao PDR*	60	8	113	106	73
Russian Federation	61	42	36	34	94
Brazil	62	74	1	1	68
Kyrgyz Republic	63	60	77	75	71
Ukraine	64	30	27	75	119
Thailand	65	50	78	1	89
Tanzania	66	70	118	112	32
Senegal	67	81	125	71	20
Mexico	68	111	70	1	36
China	69	62	81	133	59
Romania	70	55	50	34	91
Italy	71	97	65	72	44
Dominican Republic	72	63	84	89	84
Vietnam	73	52	95	132	80
Slovak Republic	74	86	1	1	77
Bangladesh	75	121	115	124	7
Ghana	76	24	111	104	95
Uruguay	77	58	41	1	116
Kenya	78	44	107	102	85
Cyprus	79	85	83	91	76
Peru	80	88	88	109	69
Greece	81	79	46	65	92
Honduras	82	94	35	52	78
Czech Republic	83	95	1	46	79
Malta	84	108	58	65	53
Botswana	85	48	1	127	127
Georgia	86	64	89	126	97
Hungary	87	68	62	34	120
Brunei Darussalam	88	33	76	109	135
Paraguay	89	83	61	55	104
Tajikistan	90	38	110	123	100
Chile	91	112	32	1	67
Angola*	92	92	127	1	34
Bhutan*	93	27	116	82	122
Armenia	94	82	29	131	115
Indonesia	95	103	101	107	75
El Salvador	96	114	79	1	70
Maldives	97	99	1	112	101
Mauritius	98	105	72	1	93
Azerbaijan	99	72	85	136	114
Cameroon	100	40	122	112	99
India	101	124	120	135	9
Malaysia	102	100	73	75	121
Burkina Faso	103	28	128	99	98
Cambodia	104	77	117	1	96
Japan	105	104	91	34	118
Nigeria	106	54	126	122	83
Belize	107	80	103	1	133
Albania	108	87	92	134	130
United Arab Emirates	109	122	1	112	81
Suriname	110	119	39	1	110
Korea, Rep.	111	118	100	75	86
Bahrain	112	117	71	112	113
Zambia	113	84	121	98	109
Guatemala	114	113	102	1	123
Qatar	115	106	53	129	135
Kuwait	116	115	57	112	126
Fiji	117	120	63	1	125
Ethiopia	118	93	131	68	66
Jordan	119	128	68	90	117
Turkey	120	127	104	59	103
Nepal	121	116	130	112	41
Oman	122	123	94	59	132
Lebanon	123	126	87	1	133
Algeria	124	133	106	108	62
Egypt	125	125	108	51	128
Benin	126	31	136	112	72
Saudi Arabia	127	134	90	52	105
Mali	128	107	132	54	106
Morocco	129	129	109	88	111
Iran, Islamic Rep.	130	130	98	87	129
Côte d'Ivoire	131	110	133	1	107
Mauritania	132	131	119	1	82
Syria	133	136	96	58	112
Chad	134	75	135	112	102
Pakistan	135	135	129	124	64
Yemen	136	132	134	81	131