Specifically, the study measured gender differences in four basic areas from 2006:
- Economic participation and opportunities (salary, participation in sectors requiring high professional qualifications)
- Education (access to education from primary to tertiary)
- Political empowerment (representation in decision-making structures)
- Health and survival (life expectancy, proportion of men and women in the population)
The gender gap is narrowest in the field of health and survival, standing at 96%. Thirty-eight countries (two less than the previous year) have already reached full equality in this area. The gap in education stands at 95% (1% more than in 2015).
The shift towards equality in key economic area has, however, slowed significantly in the last year. The gap is only 59% closed here, which is the worst result since 2008. Moreover, the situation can turn even worse in connection with the fact that many jobs occupied mostly by women will be affected by the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution.
The worst situation is in the area of political empowerment where the gender gap stands at 23%.
Global gender equality index 2016 - top 10 countries
No country has yet achieved one hundred percent gender equality in all four areas being measured. The greatest equality between men and women remains in the Scandinavian countries. Iceland is number one (eight years in a row), followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Rwanda, which first entered the index in 2014 in seventh place, jumped from sixth in 2015 to fifth in 2016. The second five countries in the top ten are Ireland, Philippines, Slovenia, New Zealand and Nicaragua. Switzerland, on the other hand, fell from the top ten in 2016.
The biggest gender inequality remains in Yemen, Pakistan and Syria. The Czech Republic was ranked 77th in 2016. In 2006, it was in 53rd place and in 2015 it was in 81st place.
The Czech Republic compared to other countries
Regarding economic participation and opportunities for both sexes, the Czech Republic ranks 89th (94th place in 2015). It ranked 40th in the issue of health and life expectancy (42nd in 2015) and in 85th place in the issue of political empowerment (83rd in 2015).
However, we are in first place in terms of access to education for both sexes. In this area, along with the USA, Australia, UK, France, Norway and Slovakia, we have managed completely to eliminate gender differences.
The full report, including separate results for each country, is available for download on the World Economic Forum website.
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