Written by Olivia Nater | Published: May 8, 2025
The world is still far from achieving gender equality, with some countries doing a lot better than others. Here we take a look at which nations have the highest gender equity scores based on reproductive health, education, as well as participation in the labor market and decision-making.
While the women’s rights movement has celebrated many major victories over the past century, women are still a long way from achieving the same opportunities, rights, and freedoms as men.
Not a single country has achieved full gender equality, and no woman is safe from the threat of discrimination, harassment, and gender-based violence. In many developing countries, women and girls still routinely face horrific injustices, including female genital mutilation, forced marriage, and high levels of domestic and sexual violence. Even in some high-income countries, the rise of the far-right and religious fundamentalism has led to regression on reproductive rights, such as U.S. women losing access to safe abortion care in many states as a result of the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.
The most recent annual UN report analyzing progress on gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) warns that, with just a few years to go before the 2030 deadline, not a single indicator under Goal 5, Gender Equality, has been fully achieved.
Women’s empowerment is one of the most underfunded areas of development. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that there is funding gap of $222 billion for ending the worst gender inequalities by 2030, including gender-based violence, child marriage, preventable maternal mortality, and unmet need for contraceptives. A separate analysis by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) looking at SDGs related to poverty, hunger, health, and women’s participation in decision-making, among other things, estimates a shortfall of $360 billion per year for achieving gender equity in these SDG areas in 48 priority developing countries.
Let’s take a look at the countries that have so far achieved the most progress on women’s rights, based on the UN’s Gender Inequality Index (GII). The GII is a composite metric that measures maternal mortality, teen births, secondary education attainment, share of parliamentary seats, and labor market participation. It ranges from 0, which means women and men fare equally, to 1, where women are as disadvantaged as possible in all measured dimensions. Another prominent gender equality index is the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index, but this one does not include any measure of reproductive health and rights, so we are not using it here. It’s also worth noting that incomplete and missing data makes it difficult to paint a holistic picture of a country’s level of gender equality, and even the UN’s GII does not account for some major gender issues, such as gender-based violence.
Nordic countries usually come out on top for measures related to gender equality, and the GII is no exception. Denmark has the best GII score based on the most recent data (2023), at an impressive 0.003. This country has a maternal mortality rate of five maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and an adolescent birth rate of 1.1 births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19; 43.6 percent of Denmark’s parliamentary seats are held by women; 91 percent of Danish women aged 25 and older have received secondary education; and 59.7 percent of women aged 15 and older participate in the labor force, compared to 67.7 percent of men.
The world’s first female minister was appointed in Denmark — Nina Bang became Minister of Education in 1924. Denmark appointed its first minister for gender equality in 1999, and the first Danish female Prime Minister came into office in 2011. The current Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, is also a woman.
Norway is close on the heels of Denmark, in second place for GII, with a total score of 0.004. Norway has an even lower maternal mortality rate than Denmark, at just two deaths per 100,000 live births, but its adolescent birth rate is slightly higher, at 1.4 births per 1,000 girls. Women hold 46.2 percent of parliamentary seats in Norway, topping Denmark, and 95.9 percent of women have received secondary education. 62.1 percent of Norwegian women participate in the labor force, compared to 69.2 percent of men.
Norway is a major supporter of international sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and has developed extensive action plans for advancing gender equality across the world. According to the most recent available data (from 2023), Norway is the biggest contributor of core (unrestricted) funding to UNFPA, the UN’s SRHR agency.
Scandinavian countries dominate the top three positions for GII, with Sweden in third position with a total score of 0.007. This country’s maternal mortality rate is five deaths per 100,000 live births, and its adolescent birth rate is 1.8 births per 1,000 girls. Women in Sweden hold almost half (46.4 percent) of parliamentary seats, and 94.9 percent of women have received secondary education. Swedish women’s labor force participation is 64.4 percent, compared to 70.6 percent for Swedish men.
Sweden was the third biggest contributor to UNFPA’s core funding in 2023, and has long been a pioneer of gender equality. In 1974, Sweden was the first country in the world to replace maternity leave with gender-neutral parental leave — the policy allowed parents to take six (paid) months off work per child, with each parent entitled to half of the days. The country followed up with additional policies to encourage more fathers to engage in parenting duties.
4) SwitzerlandSwitzerland holds fourth place for GII, with a score of 0.010. It has a maternal mortality rate of five deaths per 100,000 live births, and its adolescent birth rate is 1.5 births per 1,000 girls. Women occupy 37.8 percent of parliamentary seats, and an impressive 98 percent of women have received secondary education. Swiss women’s labor force participation is 62.6 percent, versus 72.9 percent for men.
Switzerland had a bit of a slow start when it comes to women’s rights. Swiss women weren’t granted the right to vote until 1971, after a failed referendum in 1959 — more than 50 years after the U.S. and Germany, and more than 25 years after France, Italy, and Austria. Nevertheless, Switzerland is a remarkably safe country for women, ranking second out of all countries (behind Denmark) in the 2023/24 Women’s Peace and Security Index. This index takes into account intimate partner violence, community safety, political violence targeting women, and proximity to conflict, as well as several inclusion and justice indicators.
The Netherlands is ranked fifth for GII, with a score of 0.013. This country has a maternal mortality rate of four maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and an adolescent birth rate of 1.9 births per 1,000 girls; 39.1 percent of the Netherlands’ parliamentary seats are held by women; 91.1 percent of Dutch women have received secondary education; and 64.1 percent of women participate in the labor force, compared to 73.1 percent of men.
The Netherlands is one of a handful of countries that have adopted a feminist foreign policy, meaning equal rights and equality are the main focus of all aspects of Dutch foreign policy. The country was the fourth biggest donor to UNFPA core funding in 2023.
The remaining top 10 countries for 2023 GII are Finland in sixth place, Iceland in seventh, Singapore and Belgium in shared eighth place, Austria in 10th, and France in 11th.
The 10 countries with the worst GII scores are, in descending order, Guinea, Mali, Haiti, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Afghanistan, Chad, Somalia, Nigeria, and Yemen, which is ranked last among countries with available data. These countries also have some of the world’s highest fertility rates as a result of women having no say over their bodies and lives.
The United States is unfortunately pretty far down the list for GII, in 45th place. The U.S. has a high maternal mortality rate for a high-income country, with 21 deaths per 100,000 live births. It also has a relatively high adolescent birth rate, at 13.1 births per 1,000 girls. Women hold only 28.2 percent of congressional seats, and just 57.3 percent of women aged 15 and older participate in the labor force, compared to 68.1 percent of men. The U.S. scores highly for education, however, with 97.9 percent of women having received secondary education.
Let’s celebrate the countries that are investing in and prioritizing women’s rights domestically and around the world, while calling on world leaders everywhere to support women’s rights and reproductive health and rights, and to ensure that the most disadvantaged women and girls are no longer left behind. Empowering women and girls is key to the achievement of the SDGs and a healthier, happier, safer future for all of humanity.
