The Economist Group Limited

03/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/07/2024 08:28

Iceland is the best place to be a working woman for the second year according to The Economist’s 2024 glass-ceiling index

For the second year in a row, The Economist's annual glass-ceiling index (GCI) shows that out of 29 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Iceland is the best country to be located if you are a working woman. The GCI is a yearly assessment of where women have the best and worst chances of equal treatment at work in countries in the OECD, a group of mostly rich countries.

Sweden, Norway, Finland and France round out the top five positions in the index. The Nordic countries are particularly good at helping women complete university, secure a job, access senior positions, and take advantage of quality parental-leave systems and flexible work schedules.

Japan, Turkey and South Korea are last on the list for the 12th consecutive year running. This can, in part, be explained by societal norms in Asia still expecting women to choose between having a family or a career.

The biggest improvers from the 2023 index include Australia, Poland and the Czech Republic. Declining in their positions from last year include New Zealand, America and Britain who all dropped by 3 or 5 places.

Highlights of The Economist's 2024 glass-ceiling index:

  • The wage gap remained the same, at 12%. In Britain and America, the wage gap was higher than the OECD average (at 14.5% and 17% respectively)

  • The share of women in management went up slightly from 33.5% to 34.1%. America is one of the strongest countries on this measure, at 42.6%, along with the Scandinavian countries. The lowest are Japan and South Korea; same for women on boards

  • Men continue to make up a bigger proportion of the labour force than women, although this gap narrowed slightly last year to 14.8 percentage points

  • The US continues to be the only OECD country to not offer any paid maternity or paternity leave, which every year drags them down the ranking. Some of the most generous countries on this measure are in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe

  • The percentage of women on boards hit 33% for the first time across the OECD. The leaders on this measure are New Zealand, France and Denmark

  • In almost every country women make up a greater proportion of the university-educated population than men. Yet they make up a lower share of the workforce across our index. This is most notable in Italy and Greece, where less than two-thirds of women are in the labour force

This is the twelfth year that The Economist has released its glass-ceiling index. When it was launched in 2013 there were five indicators and 26 countries; today it consists of ten indicators including maternity and paternity leave for 29 OECD countries.

To view the full interactive glass-ceiling index and view each country by indicator, please visit: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/glass-ceiling-index

The glass-ceiling index 2024 Best and worst OECD countries to be a working woman

  1. Iceland

  2. Sweden

  3. Norway

  4. Finland

  5. France

  6. Portugal

  7. Poland

  8. Belgium

  9. Denmark

  10. Australia

  11. Austria

  12. Spain

  13. New Zealand

  14. Canada

  15. Slovakia

  16. Italy

  17. Ireland

  18. Czech Republic
    OECD average

  19. Britain

  20. Greece

  21. Germany

  22. United States

  23. Netherlands

  24. Hungary

  25. Israel

  26. Switzerland

  27. Japan

  28. Turkey

  29. South Korea

For more info or to interview our journalists on the glass-ceiling index, please contact:
(US) [email protected]
(UK and rest of world) [email protected]

About The Economist (economist.com) With rigorous reporting, in-depth analysis and global perspective, The Economist explains today's most important events and seeks to discern the trends that will shape tomorrow. In addition to the weekly print edition, The Economist publishes its journalism daily through its website, app, podcasts, newsletters, short- and long-form video and Espresso, an app for concise global news. The Economist has 1.2 million subscribers. More than 60m people follow The Economist across X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok and Threads.