Data for 1996

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1996

Name: Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1996
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1996, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1996 covers 170 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.954; Afghanistan is lowest, at 0.041. The middle country reads 0.646. Against 1995, 88 values changed (63 up, 25 down), the same countries are covered.

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Women's Political Empowerment Index · Data for 1996

HighestDenmark

0.954

LowestAfghanistan

0.041

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

170countries
1measure
1996the year it describes
149distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1996, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 170 countries · select a heading to sort

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1996: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.954
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.953
3	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.946
4	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.938
5	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.924
=6	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.923
=6	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.923
=6	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.923
9	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.915
10	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.912
11	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.911
12	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.910
13	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.906
14	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.904
15	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.901
16	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.898
=17	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.897
=17	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.897
19	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.893
=20	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.890
=20	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.890
22	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.889
23	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.885
24	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.879
25	United States`USA`Northern America	0.878
=26	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.876
=26	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.876
28	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.873
29	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.870
30	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.867
31	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.865
32	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.861
33	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.852
34	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.851
35	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.842
36	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.837
37	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.835
38	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.833
=39	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.820
=39	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.820
41	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.817
42	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.806
43	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.802
44	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.795
45	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.793
46	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.790
47	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.783
48	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.774
49	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.772
50	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.771
51	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.768
52	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.766
53	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.759
54	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.756
=55	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.755
=55	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.755
=57	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.753
=57	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.753
59	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.750
60	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.747
=61	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.741
=61	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.741
63	Colombia`COL`South America	0.740
64	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.738
65	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.733
66	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.728
67	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.725
68	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.721
69	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.718
70	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.717
=71	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.715
=71	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.715
73	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.711
74	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.710
75	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.705
76	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.691
77	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.685
78	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.682
79	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.675
80	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.669
=81	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.663
=81	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.663
83	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.660
84	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.655
85	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.651
86	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.641
=87	Chile`CHL`South America	0.640
=87	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.640
=89	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.634
=89	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.634
91	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.633
=92	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.631
=92	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.631
94	Peru`PER`South America	0.628
95	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.626
96	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.625
97	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.617
=98	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.615
=98	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.615
100	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.613
101	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.612
=102	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.604
=102	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.604
104	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.601
105	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.600
106	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.597
107	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.592
108	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.590
109	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.584
110	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.579
111	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.575
112	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.574
113	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.573
114	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.565
115	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.564
116	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.562
117	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.553
118	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.551
119	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.549
120	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.542
121	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.531
=122	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.524
=122	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.524
124	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.506
125	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.504
126	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.503
127	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.499
128	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.495
129	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.489
130	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.485
131	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.482
132	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.480
133	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.473
134	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.465
135	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.462
136	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.459
137	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.448
138	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.446
139	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.421
140	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.416
141	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.410
142	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.405
143	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.400
144	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.395
=145	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.376
=145	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.376
=145	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.376
148	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.373
149	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.370
150	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.365
151	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.342
152	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.341
153	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.334
154	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.324
155	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.318
156	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.317
157	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.315
=158	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.313
=158	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.313
160	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.286
161	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.269
162	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.252
163	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.245
164	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.244
165	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.224
=166	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.216
=166	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.216
168	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.163
169	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.107
170	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.041

02In 1996

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.954
2Sweden0.953
3Norway0.946
4Finland0.938
5New Zealand0.924

Lowest

170Afghanistan0.041
169Somalia0.107
168Libya0.163
166Timor-Lesteshared0.216
166Sudanshared0.216

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.646. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031995 → 1996

Since 1995

What changed between 1995 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
88values changed, of 170 in both
63 · 25rose · fell
82unchanged

Rose most

Bosnia and Herzegovina0.464 → 0.574+0.110
Sierra Leone0.316 → 0.376+0.060
Lithuania0.827 → 0.879+0.052
Guatemala0.450 → 0.499+0.049
Suriname0.778 → 0.820+0.042

Fell most

Afghanistan0.089 → 0.041−0.048
Liberia0.533 → 0.489−0.044
Belarus0.779 → 0.755−0.024
Iraq0.268 → 0.245−0.023
Slovenia0.865 → 0.842−0.023

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 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1996.
149 distinct values among 170
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.923. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 170 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
170 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download womens-political-empowerment-1996-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip

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-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (1996). Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1996 [data set], describing 1996. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/womens-political-empowerment/1996

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1995
170 countries
The year after ›
Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1997
170 countries
All of them
Women's Political Empowerment Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions