Iceland has maintained its top seat on the World Economic Forum’s rating on the performance in gender equality in 134 countries around the globe. This is the second time that Iceland tops the list.
Iceland has a female prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir. Photo by Geir Ólafsson.
Nordic countries are in the first four places: Norway follows Iceland, up from third place last year; Finland ranks third, down from second place in 2009 and Sweden maintains fourth place. New Zealand places fifth on the list, mbl.is reports.
Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of WEF, told the BBC that the Nordic countries are leading the fight for gender equality and are also the countries with the best position for competition in trade.
France has the highest fall, down from place 18 to 46. According to WEF, the number of female ministers has decreased significantly since 2009.
The US, on the other hand, jumps from place 31 to 19 because women have increased in the government and the difference in wages between genders has decreased as well.
The bottom three countries on the list are Pakistan, Chad and Yemen.
In its ranking, WEF takes into consideration gender equality in politics, education, the employment market and healthcare system.
Click here to read the BBC’s report on the WEF ranking.
