How successful is Europe at closing the gender gap between men and women?

The World Economic Forum's annual report reveals that Europe is successfully narrowing the gender gap between men and women, ranking globally as the leader in this effort. According to the latest data, Europe has closed 75.7% of its overall gender gap, leaving a 24.3% gap to bridge. This improvement marks a 7 percentage point increase since 2006 when the WEF first measured the gap.

Europe's strong performance is particularly notable in the political sphere, where it achieves a 37% score, the highest among all regions. The region also closely trails Latin America and the Caribbean in other categories, including health and survival (96.9%) and educational attainment (99.5%). However, Europe is ranked fifth in economic participation and opportunity, trailing behind North America by nearly 8 percentage points.

Iceland stands out as the top performer within Europe, having closed more than 90% of its gender gap (93%) and demonstrating a consistent upward trajectory towards parity over the past two decades. Despite Europe's overall success, disparities remain within the continent. Northern European countries, such as Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, dominate the top of the rankings, while Eastern European nations, including Türkiye, Romania, and Hungary, lag significantly behind, with scores more than 20 percentage points lower than Iceland's.

In Romania and Hungary, political empowerment is the primary factor driving their lower scores, as these countries lack mandatory quotas for women in politics and have internal party systems that discourage female participation. The European Union is actively working to address this issue through various policies and measures aimed at promoting gender equality, such as pay transparency rules and flexible working arrangements.