Data for 2021

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 2021

Name: Women's Political Empowerment Index, 2021
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 2021 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.958; Afghanistan is lowest, at 0.047. The middle country reads 0.779. Against 2020, 169 values changed (91 up, 78 down), the same countries are covered.

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Women's Political Empowerment Index · Data for 2021

HighestDenmark

0.958

LowestAfghanistan

0.047

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

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
148distinct 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, 2021, 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 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Women's Political Empowerment Index, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.958
=2	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.952
=2	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.952
4	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.947
5	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.945
6	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.943
=7	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.940
=7	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.940
9	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.938
10	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.936
11	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.932
=12	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.931
=12	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.931
=14	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.929
=14	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.929
16	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.922
17	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.920
18	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.918
=19	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.916
=19	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.916
21	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.914
22	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.913
=23	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.910
=23	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.910
=23	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.910
26	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.907
27	United States`USA`Northern America	0.906
=28	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.904
=28	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.904
30	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.903
=31	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.900
=31	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.900
=33	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.894
=33	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.894
=35	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.892
=35	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.892
37	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.889
=38	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.886
=38	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.886
40	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.884
41	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.882
42	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.881
43	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.880
44	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.878
45	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.877
46	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.871
47	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.861
48	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.858
49	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.856
50	Chile`CHL`South America	0.855
51	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.851
52	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.850
53	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.848
54	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.844
55	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.841
56	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.840
57	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.838
58	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.836
59	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.835
60	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.834
=61	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.833
=61	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.833
63	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.826
64	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.825
65	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.823
66	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.822
67	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.820
68	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.819
69	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.818
70	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.816
=71	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.809
=71	Peru`PER`South America	0.809
=73	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.803
=73	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.803
=75	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.801
=75	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.801
77	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.797
=78	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.796
=78	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.796
80	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.795
81	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.794
=82	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.788
=82	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.788
84	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.786
85	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.783
86	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.782
87	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.781
88	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.779
=89	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.778
=89	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.778
91	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.766
92	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.765
93	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.764
94	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.762
=95	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.755
=95	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.755
=95	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.755
98	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.754
99	Colombia`COL`South America	0.753
100	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.750
101	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.746
102	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.743
103	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.738
104	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.737
=105	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.735
=105	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.735
=105	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.735
=108	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.723
=108	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.723
110	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.721
111	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.709
112	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.701
113	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.699
114	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.698
115	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.697
116	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.694
117	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.691
118	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.690
=119	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.688
=119	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.688
121	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.685
122	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.672
123	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.670
124	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.659
125	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.657
126	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.654
127	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.649
128	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.645
129	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.642
130	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.640
131	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.626
132	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.625
133	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.618
134	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.617
135	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.616
136	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.612
137	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.602
138	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.598
139	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.596
140	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.595
141	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.594
142	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.593
143	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.576
144	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.572
145	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.569
146	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.568
147	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.563
148	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.552
149	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.507
150	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.505
151	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.477
152	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.473
153	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.446
=154	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.429
=154	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.429
=154	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.429
=157	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.415
=157	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.415
159	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.400
160	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.397
161	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.396
162	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.384
163	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.378
164	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.375
165	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.366
166	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.347
167	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.334
168	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.329
169	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.320
170	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.298
171	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.287
172	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.283
173	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.215
174	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.174
175	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.159
176	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.047

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.958
2Germanyshared0.952
2Latviashared0.952
4Belgium0.947
5Estonia0.945

Lowest

176Afghanistan0.047
175Yemen0.159
174Eritrea0.174
173Sudan0.215
172Qatar0.283

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.779. “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.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
169values changed, of 176 in both
91 · 78rose · fell
7unchanged

Rose most

Saudi Arabia0.272 → 0.347+0.075
Ethiopia0.710 → 0.779+0.069
Central African Republic0.563 → 0.626+0.063
Mali0.686 → 0.735+0.049
Lebanon0.549 → 0.595+0.046

Fell most

Afghanistan0.494 → 0.047−0.447
Myanmar0.630 → 0.334−0.296
Algeria0.760 → 0.645−0.115
Chad0.569 → 0.473−0.096
Guinea0.485 → 0.397−0.088

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 2021.
148 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.910. 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 176 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
176 rows · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download womens-political-empowerment-2021-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 (2021). Women's Political Empowerment Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/womens-political-empowerment/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Women's Political Empowerment Index, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Women's Political Empowerment Index, 2022
176 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