UNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women · Women's Empowerment Index
Women's Empowerment Index by country
How far are women able to make choices and take up opportunities in their own lives?
Of the 114 countries compared in 2022, Sweden had the highest reading, 0.828, and Yemen had the lowest reading, 0.141. In the middle country the figure was 0.615.
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Part ofGender & Equality
Women's Empowerment Index · 2022
Context statistic
Highest of 114Sweden
0.828012022 · values only
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 114 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale
2Photo: Hansueli Krapf · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3Photo: tiimta · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
02Every measured country
Women's Empowerment 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 higher value — the better end.
- 0.141–0.488
- 0.491–0.568
- 0.569–0.656
- 0.664–0.750
- 0.752–0.828
- No reading in 2022
- Europe
0.753
the middle country, of 36 measured · 49 members
Sweden0.828
Bosnia and Herzegovina0.597Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
0.630
the middle country, of 19 measured · 48 members
Canada0.783
Guatemala0.482Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Asia
0.565
the middle country, of 28 measured · 52 members
Singapore0.757
Yemen0.141Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
0.488
the middle country, of 30 measured · 55 members
South Africa0.680
Niger0.307Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
1 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia.
Australia0.805Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
18 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Northern Europe
0.785
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Sweden0.828
Estonia0.750Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
0.778
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Belgium0.801
Luxembourg0.737Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Europe
0.701
the middle country, of 7 measured · 10 members
Poland0.757
Romania0.623Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Europe
0.698
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Slovenia0.791Bosnia and Herzegovina0.597Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- South America
0.635
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Chile0.699
Colombia0.592Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- South-eastern Asia
0.597
the middle country, of 8 measured · 11 members
Singapore0.757
Myanmar0.518Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Central America
0.563
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica0.677Guatemala0.482Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Eastern Africa
0.519
the middle country, of 9 measured · 19 members
Mauritius0.613
Zambia0.441Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Southern Asia
0.505
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Sri Lanka0.568
Pakistan0.337Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Asia
0.498
the middle country, of 9 measured · 19 members
Israel0.694Yemen0.141Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Western Africa
0.438
the middle country, of 13 measured · 16 members
Togo0.537Niger0.307Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia.
Australia0.805Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
2 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic, Jamaica.
Jamaica0.694
Dominican Republic0.603Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Eastern Asia
3 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Japan, Mongolia.
Mongolia0.670
Japan0.651Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Middle Africa
2 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Cameroon, DR Congo.
Cameroon0.520
DR Congo0.399Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Northern Africa
2 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Egypt, Tunisia.
Tunisia0.512
Egypt0.466Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada0.783
United States0.752Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Southern Africa
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa.
South Africa0.680
Lesotho0.531Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
114 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 0.615; a quarter are above 0.706, and a quarter below 0.518. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 114 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. This index looks at women's achievements on their own terms, not at how they compare with men's — so a country where men and women are equally constrained scores low here and can still score well on its twin, the Global Gender Parity Index. Many countries could not be scored for lack of data and are absent, not zero. The publishers rank no country, and neither does this page; they sort countries into four groups instead, shown beside each score.
Showing 25 of 114 countries
Values for 2022.
05In this edition
Women's Empowerment Index in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
0.828
Women's Empowerment Index (0–1; higher = more empowerment)
Lowest reading
0.141
Women's Empowerment Index (0–1; higher = more empowerment)
06The measure
About Women's Empowerment Index
The Women's Empowerment Index measures how far women are able to make choices and take up opportunities in their own lives, across health, education, work and money, decision-making, and freedom from violence. It runs from 0 to 1 and was published in 2023 by UNDP and UN Women as an experimental index, alongside a twin that measures the gap between women and men.
What the number is: Women's Empowerment Index (0–1; higher = more empowerment).
07Where 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 Women's Empowerment Index is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- State Capacity IndexJonathan K. Hanson (University of Michigan) and Rachel Sigman (Naval Postgraduate School) · 109 countries in commonρ 0.90
- ND-GAIN Country IndexNotre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 114 countries in commonρ 0.90
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 112 countries in commonρ 0.90
Moves against
Where Women's Empowerment Index is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 114 countries in commonρ −0.91
- Average Household SizeUN DESA Population Division · 89 countries in commonρ −0.90
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 112 countries in commonρ −0.87
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 316 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
More from UNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women
09Questions
Women's Empowerment Index: questions and answers
Which country has the highest Women's Empowerment Index?
Sweden, at 0.828, among the 114 countries compared in 2022.
Which country has the lowest Women's Empowerment Index?
Yemen, at 0.141, among the 114 countries compared in 2022.
How many countries does the Women's Empowerment Index cover?
114 in 2022.
What is the world average Women's Empowerment Index?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 114 compared in 2022, the figure was 0.615.
Is this UNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. UNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Women's Empowerment Index published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2022.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women, under CC BY 3.0 IGO. From the statistical annex of The Paths to Equal (UNDP and UN Women, 2023), read from UNDP's Human Development Report Office copy and stored at the three decimals published. Only the index values are used, not the indicators from other agencies that go into them. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
10Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Women's Empowerment Index — UNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women
From the statistical annex of The Paths to Equal (UNDP and UN Women, 2023), read from UNDP's Human Development Report Office copy and stored at the three decimals published. Only the index values are used, not the indicators from other agencies that go into them.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2022
Cite the source as: UNDP and UN Women. 2023. The Paths to Equal: Twin Indices on Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality. New York: United Nations Development Programme and UN Women.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: UNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- 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.
- 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.
- Sweden — User:Pieter Kuiper, Public domain
- Iceland — Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Australia — tiimta, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Women's Empowerment Index by country: Women's Empowerment Index, data from UNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/womens-empowerment-index