Egypt ranks 129th in World Economic Forum gender report

Egypt has ranked 129th out of 142 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report, in a list topped by Iceland, Finland and Norway.

The report focuses on examining gender gaps between men and women in four key areas including health, education, economy and politics. The World Economic Forum (WEF) quantitatively measures gender-based disparities and tracks them over time.

Egypt’s ranking has deteriorated over time. While it ranked 109th in 2006, it dropped to 120th in 2007 and has wavered around the 120s since: 124th in 2008, 126th in 2009, 125th in 2010, 123rd in 2011, 126th in 2012, before reaching 125th in 2013.

Kuwait is the leading Arab country in the list, ranking 113th, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — mainly due to improvements in the estimated earned income. Qatar ranked 116th, Tunisia 123rd, Bahrain 124th, Algeria 126th and Oman 128th. Saudi Arabia ranked 130th.

Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen came last in the ranking.

Egypt’s profile shows that it scored below the sample average in the key four areas.

Egypt scored below the sample average in economic participation and opportunity with a score reaching 0.461, and way below the average in political participation and empowerment with a score reaching 0.041. Egypt was very close to the average in health and survival with 0.947, and 0.947 in educational attainment.