UNDP Human Development Report Office · Gender Social Norms Index
Gender Social Norms Index by country
How many people hold at least one bias against gender equality?
Of the 80 countries compared in the 2023 edition, New Zealand had the lowest reading, 27.385%, and Tajikistan had the highest reading, 99.917%. In the middle country the figure was 92.222%. 11 readings from before 2013 are listed but not compared.
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Part ofGender & Equality
Gender Social Norms Index · the 2023 edition
Context statistic
Lowest of 80New Zealand
27.385%01the 2023 edition · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 80 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Karora derivative work: Inkey · Public domain, greyscale
2Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale
3Photo: © User:Colin / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0, greyscale
Highest in the 2023 edition
Tajikistan99.917%
Pakistan99.886%
Qatar99.808%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Gender Social Norms Index on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 98.907–99.917%
- 95.490–98.771%
- 90.091–95.470%
- 76.771–89.929%
- 27.385–76.111%
- Hatched: a reading from before 2013, listed but not compared (11)
- No reading in the 2023 edition
- Europe
76.111%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 49 members
Sweden27.909%
Russia90.682%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Americas
88.979%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 48 members
Canada41.140%
Haiti98.907%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Asia
98.024%
the middle country, of 33 measured · 52 members
Japan58.824%Tajikistan99.917%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Africa
98.698%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 55 members
Morocco93.667%
Libya99.722%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
2 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand27.385%
Australia34.829%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
18 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Southern Europe
58.772%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 17 members
Andorra42.462%
Serbia76.111%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
85.841%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 10 members
Czechia77.690%Russia90.682%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- South America
88.503%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 12 members
Uruguay60.776%
Venezuela92.353%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Eastern Asia
89.880%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Japan58.824%
Mongolia97.436%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
98.223%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 19 members
Cyprus80.476%Qatar99.808%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Northern Africa
98.389%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Morocco93.667%Libya99.722%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Southern Asia
99.220%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
Maldives94.688%Pakistan99.886%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
99.416%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 11 members
Singapore77.137%
Indonesia99.650%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand27.385%Australia34.829%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
2 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad and Tobago86.441%Haiti98.907%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central America
3 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua.
Guatemala89.455%
Nicaragua93.167%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Central Asia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan93.225%Tajikistan99.917%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Africa
4 of 19 measured — too few for a middle: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe.
Kenya95.490%
Rwanda99.149%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada41.140%
United States50.220%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Northern Europe
3 of 13 measured — too few for a middle: Estonia, Sweden, United Kingdom.
Sweden27.909%
Estonia76.771%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Southern Africa
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: South Africa.
South Africa97.392%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Africa
2 of 16 measured — too few for a middle: Ghana, Nigeria.
Ghana98.969%
Nigeria99.576%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Western Europe
2 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Germany, Netherlands.
Netherlands30.641%
Germany37.447%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
03The whole field at once
The spread
80 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 92.222%; a quarter are above 98.462%, and a quarter below 80.262%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 91 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UNDP Human Development Report Office ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. The rows do not share a year: the 91 countries come from three World Values Survey waves — 60 from 2017–2022, 20 from 2010–2014 and 11 from 2005–2009 — and UNDP prints them in two separate blocks for that reason. Comparing across those blocks compares attitudes fifteen years apart.
Showing 25 of 91 countries
Values for the 2023 edition.
05In this edition
Gender Social Norms Index in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
99.917%
People with at least one bias against gender equality (%)
Lowest reading
27.385%
People with at least one bias against gender equality (%)
06The parts of the index
Inside the number
UNDP Human Development Report Office publishes the parts the headline is built from. Each part’s highest and lowest country, and its middle value.
| Part | Highest | Lowest | Middle country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Political bias (%)80 countries |  Malaysia91.718 | Germany13.185 | 62.857 |
| Educational bias (%)80 countries | Pakistan60.376 | Sweden2.596 | 21.685 |
| Economic bias (%)80 countries |  Egypt93.80 | Netherlands7.96 | 57.82 |
| Physical integrity bias (%)80 countries | Rwanda97.642 |  United Kingdom8.232 | 76.192 |
| People with at least two biases (%)80 countries | Pakistan98.52 | New Zealand8.67 | 74.18 |
07The measure
About Gender Social Norms Index
The Gender Social Norms Index is the share of people who hold at least one of seven biases against gender equality, across political, educational, economic and physical-integrity dimensions. It is the only measure on this site that asks what people BELIEVE rather than what their country does or achieves.
What the number is: People with at least one bias against gender equality (%).
08Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Gender & Equality, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where Gender Social Norms Index is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Population Under Age 15UN DESA Population Division · 80 countries in commonρ 0.72
- Crude Birth RateUN DESA Population Division · 80 countries in commonρ 0.71
- Total Fertility RateUN DESA Population Division · 80 countries in commonρ 0.71
Moves against
Where Gender Social Norms Index is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Population Aged 65 and OverUN DESA Population Division · 80 countries in commonρ −0.84
- Human Development IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 80 countries in commonρ −0.80
- Expected Years of SchoolingUNDP Human Development Report Office · 80 countries in commonρ −0.79
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 50 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
The countries at either end
10Questions
Gender Social Norms Index: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest Gender Social Norms Index?
New Zealand, at 27.385%, among the 80 countries compared in the 2023 edition.
Which country has the highest Gender Social Norms Index?
Tajikistan, at 99.917%, among the 80 countries compared in the 2023 edition.
How many countries does the Gender Social Norms Index cover?
80 in the 2023 edition, and 91 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average Gender Social Norms Index?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 80 compared in the 2023 edition, the figure was 92.222%.
Is this UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own ranking?
No. UNDP Human Development Report Office publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Gender Social Norms Index published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2023.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNDP Human Development Report Office, under CC BY 3.0 IGO. From UNDP’s Human Development Report annex, at the full precision that file carries rather than the one decimal the printed report shows. Coverage is the real limit: 91 countries, not 190, because the World Values Survey goes where it can. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
11Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Gender Social Norms Index — UNDP Human Development Report Office
From UNDP’s Human Development Report annex, at the full precision that file carries rather than the one decimal the printed report shows. Coverage is the real limit: 91 countries, not 190, because the World Values Survey goes where it can.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: UNDP. 2023 Gender Social Norms Index. New York: United Nations Development Programme.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-05.
How this page reads the numbers
- UNDP Human Development Report Office ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2013 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- New Zealand — Karora derivative work: Inkey, Public domain
- Sweden — User:Pieter Kuiper, Public domain
- United Kingdom — © User:Colin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Gender Social Norms Index by country: Gender Social Norms Index, data from UNDP Human Development Report Office. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/gender-social-norms