Which are the world’s top 20 most gender-equal countries, 2016?

Interestingly, the leading four most gender-equal countries continue to be Scandinavian: Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden taking the top 4 positions, in that order, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2016, was not exactly a big surprise. Rwanda moved in front of Ireland to take the 5th position. Following Ireland (No. 6) are Philippines (No. 7), Slovenia (No. 8), New Zealand (No. 9), and Nicaragua (No. 10).

The US at No. 45 loses 17 places since last year, among other major economies, Germany is at No. 13, followed by South Africa (No. 15), France (No. 17), UK (No. 20), Russia (No. 75), Brazil (No. 79), and India (No. 87) gains 21 spots and overtakes China (No. 99).

If current trends continue, women will not reach global parity with men for 170 years, the World Economic Forum has said, it calculated that the world will not eliminate the gender gap until 2186.

Below are the world’s top 10 most gender equal countries, based on the report:

1. Iceland
2. Finland

3. Norway
4. Sweden

5. Rwanda
6. Ireland

7. Philippines
8. Slovenia

9. New Zealand
10. Nicaragua

11. Switzerland
12. Burundi

13. Germany
14. Namibia

15. South Africa
16. Netherlands

17. France
18. Latvia

19. Denmark
20. United Kingdom

Top 100 most gender-equal countries in the world, 2016

The report is an annual benchmarking exercise that measures progress towards parity between men and women in 4 areas: educational attainment, health and survival, economic opportunity and political empowerment.