Data for 2021

Gender Inequality Index, 2021

Name: Gender Inequality Index, 2021
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

2021, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Gender Inequality Index, 2021 covers 171 countries. Yemen is highest, at 0.839; Denmark is lowest, at 0.008. The middle country reads 0.356. Against 2020, 161 values changed (31 up, 130 down), 2 countries joined.

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Gender Inequality Index · Data for 2021

HighestYemen

0.839

LowestDenmark

0.008

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

171countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
156distinct 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, 2021, as published. The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own, as printed. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 171 countries · select a heading to sort

Gender Inequality Index, 2021: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.008
2	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.009
3	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.010
4	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.013
5	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.017
6	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.029
7	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.030
8	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.031
9	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.035
10	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.037
11	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.040
=12	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.042
=12	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.042
14	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.043
15	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.044
16	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.048
17	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.059
18	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.062
19	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.063
=20	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.064
=20	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.064
22	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.065
23	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.072
24	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.076
25	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.079
=26	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.081
=26	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.081
28	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.084
29	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.085
30	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.087
31	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.092
32	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.108
33	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.109
34	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.113
35	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.114
36	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.117
37	Chile`CHL`South America	0.119
38	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.133
39	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.138
40	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.141
41	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.145
42	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.152
43	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.158
44	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.173
45	United States`USA`Northern America	0.176
46	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.178
47	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.179
48	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.182
49	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.185
50	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.190
51	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.191
52	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.205
53	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.206
54	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.216
55	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.220
56	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.221
57	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.225
58	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.226
59	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.228
60	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.229
61	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.242
62	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.252
63	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.253
64	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.256
65	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.259
=66	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.266
=66	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.266
68	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.269
=69	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.272
=69	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.272
71	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.275
72	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.292
73	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.293
74	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.298
=75	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.301
=75	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.301
77	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.302
78	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.303
79	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.310
80	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.315
81	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.319
82	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.328
83	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.329
84	Peru`PER`South America	0.342
85	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.346
86	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.356
87	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.361
88	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.362
89	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.365
90	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.366
91	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.369
92	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.370
93	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.381
94	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.383
95	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.392
96	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.394
97	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.395
98	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.397
=99	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.405
=99	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.405
101	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.412
102	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.417
103	Colombia`COL`South America	0.420
=104	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.423
=104	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.423
106	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.425
=107	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.432
=107	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.432
109	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.436
110	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.438
111	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.439
112	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.441
113	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.442
114	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.444
115	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.450
116	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.467
117	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.468
118	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.476
119	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.477
120	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.478
121	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.481
122	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.483
=123	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.487
=123	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.487
=125	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.490
=125	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.490
127	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.494
128	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.495
=129	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.497
=129	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.497
131	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.502
132	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.503
133	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.507
134	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.508
135	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.512
136	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.519
137	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.523
138	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.524
139	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.525
140	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.526
141	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.532
142	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.533
143	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.541
144	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.544
=145	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.562
=145	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.562
147	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.569
148	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.577
149	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.584
150	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.585
151	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.588
152	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.594
=153	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.596
=153	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.596
155	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.607
156	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.609
157	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.611
=158	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.612
=158	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.612
160	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.618
161	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.621
162	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.634
163	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.640
164	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.642
165	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.651
166	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.660
167	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.673
168	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.774
169	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.795
170	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.816
171	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.839

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

#171Yemen0.839
#170Papua New Guinea0.816
#169Vanuatu0.795
#168Tonga0.774
#167Nigeria0.673

Lowest

#1Denmark0.008
#2Switzerland0.009
#3Norway0.010
#4Sweden0.013
#5Netherlands0.017

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 0.356. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+2 / −0countries joined / left
161values changed, of 169 in both
31 · 130rose · fell
8unchanged

Rose most

Tonga0.446 → 0.774+0.328
Kuwait0.160 → 0.252+0.092
Algeria0.383 → 0.442+0.059
Qatar0.152 → 0.190+0.038
Yemen0.808 → 0.839+0.031

Fell most

Chile0.182 → 0.119−0.063
Chad0.696 → 0.660−0.036
Belize0.469 → 0.436−0.033
Afghanistan0.674 → 0.642−0.032
Peru0.373 → 0.342−0.031

+ Antigua and Barbuda

+ Madagascar

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 2021.
156 distinct values among 171
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.042. 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 171 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
171 rows · 5.3 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download gender-inequality-2021-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 (2021). Gender Inequality Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/gender-inequality/2021

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Gender Inequality Index, 2020
169 countries
The year after ›
Gender Inequality Index, 2022
172 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