Data for 2008

Gender Inequality Index, 2008

Name: Gender Inequality Index, 2008
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

2008, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Gender Inequality Index, 2008 covers 148 countries. Saudi Arabia is highest, at 0.762; Sweden is lowest, at 0.048. The middle country reads 0.402. Against 2007, 140 values changed (51 up, 89 down), 1 country joined.

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Gender Inequality Index · Data for 2008

HighestSaudi Arabia

0.762

LowestSweden

0.048

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end.

148countries
1measure
2008the year it describes
135distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 3.0 IGOlicence

01UNDP Human Development Report Office’s rank

The table

Every country and every column of Gender Inequality Index, 2008, as published. The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own, as printed. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 148 countries · select a heading to sort

Gender Inequality Index, 2008: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.048
2	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.053
3	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.054
4	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.060
5	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.073
6	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.079
7	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.084
8	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.089
9	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.098
10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.102
11	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.112
=12	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.115
=12	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.115
14	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.122
15	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.126
16	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.132
17	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.133
18	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.134
19	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.135
20	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.140
21	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.146
22	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.147
23	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.155
24	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.156
25	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.169
26	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.172
27	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.174
=28	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.176
=28	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.176
=30	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.178
=30	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.178
32	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.183
33	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.184
=34	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.185
=34	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.185
36	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.192
37	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.212
38	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.223
39	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.226
40	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.230
41	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.234
=42	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.239
=42	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.239
44	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.242
45	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.245
46	United States`USA`Northern America	0.255
47	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.261
48	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.269
49	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.271
50	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.284
51	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.285
52	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.293
53	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.300
54	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.326
55	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.327
=56	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.329
=56	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.329
58	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.331
59	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.333
60	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.341
61	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.346
62	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.348
63	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.353
64	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.355
65	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.366
66	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.367
67	Chile`CHL`South America	0.370
68	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.371
69	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.373
70	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.375
71	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.378
72	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.392
73	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.396
74	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.397
75	Peru`PER`South America	0.406
76	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.409
77	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.411
78	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.425
79	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.430
80	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.433
81	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.436
82	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.438
83	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.441
=84	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.442
=84	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.442
86	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.452
87	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.455
88	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.456
89	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.460
90	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.475
=91	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.480
=91	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.480
=91	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.480
94	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.484
95	Colombia`COL`South America	0.485
96	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.488
97	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.489
98	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.506
99	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.517
100	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.518
101	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.521
102	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.526
103	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.530
104	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.531
105	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.532
=106	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.533
=106	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.533
108	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.534
109	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.538
110	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.539
111	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.543
=112	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.550
=112	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.550
114	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.555
115	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.562
116	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.566
117	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.577
=118	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.580
=118	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.580
120	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.581
121	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.591
122	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.593
123	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.596
124	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.600
125	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.601
126	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.608
127	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.613
128	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.615
129	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.616
=130	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.617
=130	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.617
132	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.620
133	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.623
134	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.628
135	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.629
136	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.637
137	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.642
138	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.646
139	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.649
140	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.655
141	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.663
142	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.672
143	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.673
144	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.685
145	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.686
146	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.690
147	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.699
148	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.762

02In 2008

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

#148Saudi Arabia0.762
#147Niger0.699
#146Afghanistan0.690
#145Qatar0.686
#144Papua New Guinea0.685

Lowest

#1Sweden0.048
#2Netherlands0.053
#3Denmark0.054
#4Switzerland0.060
#5Finland0.073

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 0.402. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

What changed between 2007 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
140values changed, of 147 in both
51 · 89rose · fell
7unchanged

Rose most

Iran0.508 → 0.550+0.042
Barbados0.336 → 0.375+0.039
Georgia0.393 → 0.430+0.037
Mongolia0.393 → 0.425+0.032
Bangladesh0.645 → 0.673+0.028

Fell most

São Tomé and Príncipe0.649 → 0.581−0.068
Kuwait0.342 → 0.284−0.058
Nepal0.575 → 0.533−0.042
United Arab Emirates0.215 → 0.176−0.039
Kenya0.636 → 0.617−0.019

+ Afghanistan

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2025 release
Every year in this series comes from UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2008.
135 distinct values among 148
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.480. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s
Printed as the publisher ranked the countries; never re-ranked here.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 148 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
148 rows · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download gender-inequality-2008-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own file, on its own site.
HDR25_Composite_indices_complete_time_series.csv

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UNDP Human Development Report Office (2008). Gender Inequality Index, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/gender-inequality/2008

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Gender Inequality Index, 2007
147 countries
The year after ›
Gender Inequality Index, 2009
148 countries
All of them
Gender Inequality Index: every year
34 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions