Data for 1998

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1998

Name: Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1998
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1998, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1998 covers 171 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.957; Afghanistan is lowest, at 0.040. The middle country reads 0.658. Against 1997, 72 values changed (59 up, 13 down), 1 country joined.

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Women's Political Empowerment Index · Data for 1998

HighestDenmark

0.957

LowestAfghanistan

0.040

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

171countries
1measure
1998the year it describes
155distinct 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, 1998, 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 171 countries · select a heading to sort

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1998: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.957
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.953
3	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.946
4	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.944
5	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.938
6	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.928
7	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.926
8	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.924
9	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.923
=10	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.921
=10	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.921
12	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.917
13	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.912
14	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.910
15	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.906
16	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.903
17	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.901
18	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.899
19	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.898
20	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.897
21	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.890
=22	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.889
=22	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.889
=24	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.885
=24	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.885
26	United States`USA`Northern America	0.882
27	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.873
28	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.871
29	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.870
30	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.865
31	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.863
32	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.854
33	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.852
34	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.848
35	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.847
=36	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.846
=36	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.846
=38	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.835
=38	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.835
40	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.824
41	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.820
42	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.817
43	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.814
44	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.811
45	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.810
46	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.807
47	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.806
48	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.799
49	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.791
50	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.784
51	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.780
52	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.778
53	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.777
54	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.773
=55	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.772
=55	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.772
57	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.768
58	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.767
59	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.760
60	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.759
61	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.755
62	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.753
63	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.752
64	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.751
65	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.750
=66	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.749
=66	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.749
68	Colombia`COL`South America	0.745
69	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.743
70	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.736
71	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.725
72	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.722
73	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.721
74	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.718
75	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.717
76	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.715
77	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.710
78	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.695
79	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.693
80	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.682
81	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.681
82	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.679
83	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.671
84	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.669
85	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.668
86	Chile`CHL`South America	0.658
=87	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.656
=87	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.656
89	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.655
=90	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.654
=90	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.654
92	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.647
93	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.646
94	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.637
95	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.634
96	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.632
97	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.631
=98	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.628
=98	Peru`PER`South America	0.628
100	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.627
=101	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.625
=101	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.625
103	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.620
104	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.618
105	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.617
106	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.615
107	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.613
108	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.601
109	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.600
110	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.599
111	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.594
112	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.577
113	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.574
114	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.572
115	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.569
116	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.565
117	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.560
118	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.559
119	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.556
120	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.553
121	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.551
122	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.549
123	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.542
124	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.536
125	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.529
126	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.520
127	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.505
128	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.502
129	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.497
130	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.495
131	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.489
132	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.488
133	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.485
134	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.480
135	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.462
=136	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.459
=136	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.459
138	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.457
=139	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.448
=139	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.448
141	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.435
142	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.424
143	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.420
144	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.414
145	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.401
146	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.398
147	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.396
148	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.391
149	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.380
150	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.376
151	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.372
152	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.366
153	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.365
154	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.341
=155	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.324
=155	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.324
157	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.323
158	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.315
=159	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.313
=159	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.313
161	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.286
162	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.269
163	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.265
164	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.245
165	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.244
166	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.224
=167	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.216
=167	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.216
169	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.163
170	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.107
171	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.040

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.957
2Sweden0.953
3Norway0.946
4Germany0.944
5Finland0.938

Lowest

171Afghanistan0.040
170Somalia0.107
169Libya0.163
167Timor-Lesteshared0.216
167Sudanshared0.216

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.658. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
72values changed, of 170 in both
59 · 13rose · fell
98unchanged

Rose most

Indonesia0.400 → 0.536+0.136
Ecuador0.587 → 0.722+0.135
South Korea0.728 → 0.811+0.083
Guyana0.733 → 0.807+0.074
Tajikistan0.339 → 0.396+0.057

Fell most

Nicaragua0.715 → 0.618−0.097
Somaliland0.524 → 0.505−0.019
Vanuatu0.660 → 0.646−0.014
Hungary0.880 → 0.871−0.009
Seychelles0.793 → 0.784−0.009

+ Montenegro

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 1998.
155 distinct values among 171
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.921. 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 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 · 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-1998-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 (1998). Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/womens-political-empowerment/1998

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1997
170 countries
The year after ›
Women's Political Empowerment Index, 1999
171 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