Ranked: The Best and Worst Countries for Women

Ranked: The Best and Worst Countries for Women

The Women, Peace and Security Index from the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security ranks 181 countries based on 13 indicators spanning women’s inclusion, justice, and security. Scores range from zero (worst) to one (best).

The 2025/26 edition finds that global progress in women’s status is stagnating. This visualization shows the 35 countries at each end of the index, highlighting the geographic divide between many of the world’s highest and lowest performers.

The Best Countries for Women

The table below shows the 35 highest scores in the index.

Rank	Country	Region	WPS Index Score
1	Denmark	Europe	0.94
2	Iceland	Europe	0.93
3	Norway	Europe	0.92
4	Sweden	Europe	0.92
5	Finland	Europe	0.92
6	Luxembourg	Europe	0.92
7	Belgium	Europe	0.91
8	Netherlands	Europe	0.91
9	Austria	Europe	0.90
10	New Zealand	Asia-Pacific	0.90
11	Australia	Asia-Pacific	0.90
12	Estonia	Europe	0.90
13	Ireland	Europe	0.89
14	Slovenia	Europe	0.89
15	Lithuania	Europe	0.89
16	Canada	North America	0.89
17	Latvia	Europe	0.88
18	Singapore	Asia-Pacific	0.88
19	Switzerland	Europe	0.88
20	UAE	Middle East	0.87
21	Germany	Europe	0.87
22	Japan	Asia-Pacific	0.87
23	France	Europe	0.86
24	United Kingdom	Europe	0.86
25	Spain	Europe	0.86
26	Portugal	Europe	0.86
27	Poland	Europe	0.85
28	Taiwan	Asia-Pacific	0.85
29	Serbia	Europe	0.84
30	Malta	Europe	0.84
31	United States	North America	0.84
32	Czechia	Europe	0.83
33	Hungary	Europe	0.83
34	Costa Rica	North America	0.82
35	Uruguay	South America	0.82

Europe dominates the upper end of the index, accounting for 25 of the 35 highest-scoring countries shown. New Zealand and Australia are the highest-ranked countries outside Europe, with both scoring 0.90.

Nordic countries occupy all five of the top positions. Despite their strong overall performance, researchers have also examined a “Nordic paradox” in which high levels of gender equality coexist with comparatively high reported rates of intimate-partner violence.

Canada scores 0.89, while the United States ranks 31st overall at 0.84. These rankings offer another lens on the broader geographic differences in women’s well-being around the world.

The Worst Countries for Women

At the other end of the index, the following table shows the 35 lowest scores reported by the Georgetown Institute.

Rank (Lowest)	Country	Region	WPS Index Score
1	Afghanistan	Asia-Pacific	0.28
2	Yemen	Middle East	0.32
3	Central African Republic	Africa	0.36
4	Syria	Middle East	0.36
5	Sudan	Africa	0.40
6	Haiti	North America	0.40
7	DRC	Africa	0.41
8	Burundi	Africa	0.41
9	South Sudan	Africa	0.41
10	Myanmar	Asia-Pacific	0.44
11	Cameroon	Africa	0.45
12	Somalia	Africa	0.46
13	Pakistan	Asia-Pacific	0.46
14	Madagascar	Africa	0.47
15	Palestine	Middle East	0.47
16	Mauritania	Africa	0.48
17	Chad	Africa	0.48
18	Mali	Africa	0.48
19	Niger	Africa	0.49
20	Nigeria	Africa	0.50
21	Papua New Guinea	Asia-Pacific	0.51
22	Burkina Faso	Africa	0.51
23	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	0.51
24	Iraq	Middle East	0.51
25	Liberia	Africa	0.51
26	Ethiopia	Africa	0.52
27	Bangladesh	Asia-Pacific	0.53
28	Guinea	Africa	0.53
29	Gambia	Africa	0.53
30	Kenya	Africa	0.54
31	Mozambique	Africa	0.55
32	Malawi	Africa	0.55
33	Colombia	South America	0.55
34	Eswatini	Africa	0.56
35	Mexico	North America	0.56

Conflict-affected countries are heavily represented near the bottom of the index, including Afghanistan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, Syria, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Security is an important part of the index, which measures factors including proximity to armed conflict and political violence targeting women. Afghanistan illustrates how restrictions can extend well beyond physical security: recent reporting found that just 7% of Afghan women were employed, compared with 84% of men.

Africa accounts for roughly two-thirds of the 35 lowest-scoring countries shown. However, the index stresses that national outcomes are multidimensional, combining employment and education with legal discrimination, violence, and other measures. Women’s outcomes can also diverge significantly within countries and over time, with changing demographic trends.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To explore another dimension of women’s economic participation around the world, see Which Countries Have the Most Women in the Workforce? on the Voronoi app.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-best-and-worst-countries-for-women/