placestats

Gender Inequality Index vs. Labour score

Fades after adjusting for income

Across 169 countries, Gender Inequality Index and Labour score rise and fall together at r = -0.74 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) shrinks it to -0.32, which could easily be chance (q = 0.14, allowing for the many pairs tested, and allowing for countries in the same region being alike). So the first figure mostly shows richer countries differing from poorer ones, not a link between these two things.

Comparing countries across the middle half of gender inequality index, 0.157 to 0.49 points, labour score is worse by 0.818 typical gaps at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 0.515 typical gaps.

Link before adjusting (r)-0.738p = 2.6e-30 · 169 countries
After adjusting for national income-0.322p = 2.1e-5 · likely range [-0.45, -0.18]
p, allowing for regions0.030standard error 0.114 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.136across 12,497 pairs

How to read these.r runs from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together), and 0 means no link. Adjusting for national income means comparing countries with the same GDP per person, so differences in wealth can’t explain the link. Income is used in percentage terms, since an extra $1,000 means more to a poor country than to a rich one. p is how likely a link this strong would be if there were really none. Below 0.05 means it is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 1.1e-32 means a decimal point followed by 31 zeros and then 11, so very close to zero. The likely range is where the true figure probably lies, and a range that crosses zero means the link could easily be chance. Countries in the same region tend to resemble each other, so the third figure allows for that, which gives a fairer p. The standard error is the typical size of the error in r. Finally, testing this many pairs means some will look strong by luck alone. A q below 0.05 means this link is unlikely to be one of those.

Gender Inequality Index · index, 0 to 1link with income -0.89 · proxy
Labour score · typical gaps (standard deviations)link with income +0.79 · high

Both of these rise and fall closely with national income, so a strong link between them before adjusting was close to certain. Read the adjusted figure, not the first one.

“Link with income” is how closely each measure tracks GDP per person across countries, from −1 to +1.

Every country as a dot

Gender Inequality Index · index, 0 to 1 →Labour score · typical gaps (standard deviations) →0.0030.677-1.971.36Afghanistan: 0.661 index, 0 to 1, -1.26 typical gaps (standard deviations)Angola: 0.515 index, 0 to 1, -0.939 typical gaps (standard deviations)Albania: 0.107 index, 0 to 1, -0.39 typical gaps (standard deviations)United Arab Emirates: 0.04 index, 0 to 1, 1.17 typical gaps (standard deviations)Argentina: 0.264 index, 0 to 1, 0.34 typical gaps (standard deviations)Armenia: 0.18 index, 0 to 1, -0.302 typical gaps (standard deviations)Antigua and Barbuda: 0.24 index, 0 to 1, 0.235 typical gaps (standard deviations)Australia: 0.056 index, 0 to 1, 0.867 typical gaps (standard deviations)Austria: 0.033 index, 0 to 1, 0.671 typical gaps (standard deviations)Azerbaijan: 0.315 index, 0 to 1, -0.0868 typical gaps (standard deviations)Burundi: 0.501 index, 0 to 1, -0.275 typical gaps (standard deviations)Belgium: 0.031 index, 0 to 1, 0.682 typical gaps (standard deviations)Benin: 0.573 index, 0 to 1, -0.233 typical gaps (standard deviations)Burkina Faso: 0.555 index, 0 to 1, -0.52 typical gaps (standard deviations)Bangladesh: 0.487 index, 0 to 1, -0.0147 typical gaps (standard deviations)Bulgaria: 0.208 index, 0 to 1, 0.954 typical gaps (standard deviations)Bahrain: 0.165 index, 0 to 1, 1.27 typical gaps (standard deviations)Bahamas, The: 0.325 index, 0 to 1, 0.318 typical gaps (standard deviations)Bosnia and Herzegovina: 0.157 index, 0 to 1, 0.126 typical gaps (standard deviations)Belarus: 0.08 index, 0 to 1, 0.978 typical gaps (standard deviations)Belize: 0.428 index, 0 to 1, 0.0851 typical gaps (standard deviations)Bolivia: 0.419 index, 0 to 1, -0.0485 typical gaps (standard deviations)Brazil: 0.39 index, 0 to 1, 0.16 typical gaps (standard deviations)Barbados: 0.297 index, 0 to 1, 0.485 typical gaps (standard deviations)Brunei Darussalam: 0.257 index, 0 to 1, 0.857 typical gaps (standard deviations)Bhutan: 0.278 index, 0 to 1, -0.0349 typical gaps (standard deviations)Botswana: 0.49 index, 0 to 1, -1.12 typical gaps (standard deviations)Canada: 0.052 index, 0 to 1, 0.581 typical gaps (standard deviations)Switzerland: 0.01 index, 0 to 1, 0.916 typical gaps (standard deviations)Chile: 0.102 index, 0 to 1, 0.344 typical gaps (standard deviations)China: 0.132 index, 0 to 1, 0.367 typical gaps (standard deviations)Cote d'Ivoire: 0.589 index, 0 to 1, -0.122 typical gaps (standard deviations)Cameroon: 0.558 index, 0 to 1, -0.192 typical gaps (standard deviations)Congo, Dem. Rep.: 0.604 index, 0 to 1, -0.523 typical gaps (standard deviations)Congo, Rep.: 0.565 index, 0 to 1, -1.69 typical gaps (standard deviations)Colombia: 0.393 index, 0 to 1, -0.377 typical gaps (standard deviations)Comoros: 0.501 index, 0 to 1, -0.00862 typical gaps (standard deviations)Cabo Verde: 0.298 index, 0 to 1, -0.252 typical gaps (standard deviations)Costa Rica: 0.217 index, 0 to 1, 0.133 typical gaps (standard deviations)Cyprus: 0.252 index, 0 to 1, 0.812 typical gaps (standard deviations)Czechia: 0.088 index, 0 to 1, 0.889 typical gaps (standard deviations)Germany: 0.057 index, 0 to 1, 0.988 typical gaps (standard deviations)Djibouti: 0.481 index, 0 to 1, -1.82 typical gaps (standard deviations)Denmark: 0.003 index, 0 to 1, 0.819 typical gaps (standard deviations)Dominican Republic: 0.417 index, 0 to 1, -0.0819 typical gaps (standard deviations)Algeria: 0.443 index, 0 to 1, -0.0627 typical gaps (standard deviations)Ecuador: 0.358 index, 0 to 1, -0.398 typical gaps (standard deviations)Egypt, Arab Rep.: 0.398 index, 0 to 1, 0.367 typical gaps (standard deviations)Spain: 0.043 index, 0 to 1, 0.483 typical gaps (standard deviations)Estonia: 0.061 index, 0 to 1, 0.558 typical gaps (standard deviations)Ethiopia: 0.497 index, 0 to 1, -0.481 typical gaps (standard deviations)Finland: 0.021 index, 0 to 1, 0.419 typical gaps (standard deviations)Fiji: 0.35 index, 0 to 1, 0.318 typical gaps (standard deviations)France: 0.034 index, 0 to 1, 0.595 typical gaps (standard deviations)Gabon: 0.505 index, 0 to 1, -0.844 typical gaps (standard deviations)United Kingdom: 0.083 index, 0 to 1, 0.635 typical gaps (standard deviations)Georgia: 0.257 index, 0 to 1, -0.418 typical gaps (standard deviations)Ghana: 0.514 index, 0 to 1, 0.00187 typical gaps (standard deviations)Guinea: 0.609 index, 0 to 1, -0.539 typical gaps (standard deviations)Gambia, The: 0.578 index, 0 to 1, -0.899 typical gaps (standard deviations)Guinea-Bissau: 0.632 index, 0 to 1, -0.255 typical gaps (standard deviations)Greece: 0.103 index, 0 to 1, 0.426 typical gaps (standard deviations)Grenada: 0.226 index, 0 to 1, -0.263 typical gaps (standard deviations)Guatemala: 0.48 index, 0 to 1, 0.48 typical gaps (standard deviations)Guyana: 0.427 index, 0 to 1, -0.0857 typical gaps (standard deviations)Honduras: 0.437 index, 0 to 1, -0.175 typical gaps (standard deviations)Croatia: 0.074 index, 0 to 1, 0.844 typical gaps (standard deviations)Haiti: 0.618 index, 0 to 1, -1.28 typical gaps (standard deviations)Hungary: 0.213 index, 0 to 1, 0.856 typical gaps (standard deviations)Indonesia: 0.423 index, 0 to 1, 0.169 typical gaps (standard deviations)India: 0.403 index, 0 to 1, -0.486 typical gaps (standard deviations)Ireland: 0.054 index, 0 to 1, 0.813 typical gaps (standard deviations)Iran, Islamic Rep.: 0.482 index, 0 to 1, -0.0514 typical gaps (standard deviations)Iraq: 0.558 index, 0 to 1, -0.409 typical gaps (standard deviations)Iceland: 0.024 index, 0 to 1, 0.919 typical gaps (standard deviations)Israel: 0.08 index, 0 to 1, 0.943 typical gaps (standard deviations)Italy: 0.043 index, 0 to 1, 0.579 typical gaps (standard deviations)Jamaica: 0.358 index, 0 to 1, 0.511 typical gaps (standard deviations)Jordan: 0.433 index, 0 to 1, -0.133 typical gaps (standard deviations)Japan: 0.059 index, 0 to 1, 1.03 typical gaps (standard deviations)Kazakhstan: 0.182 index, 0 to 1, 0.516 typical gaps (standard deviations)Kenya: 0.526 index, 0 to 1, -0.274 typical gaps (standard deviations)Kyrgyz Republic: 0.34 index, 0 to 1, 0.54 typical gaps (standard deviations)Cambodia: 0.506 index, 0 to 1, 0.369 typical gaps (standard deviations)Korea, Rep.: 0.038 index, 0 to 1, 0.822 typical gaps (standard deviations)Kuwait: 0.188 index, 0 to 1, 1.15 typical gaps (standard deviations)Lao PDR: 0.475 index, 0 to 1, -0.16 typical gaps (standard deviations)Lebanon: 0.36 index, 0 to 1, 0.107 typical gaps (standard deviations)Liberia: 0.646 index, 0 to 1, -0.308 typical gaps (standard deviations)Libya: 0.253 index, 0 to 1, -0.574 typical gaps (standard deviations)St. Lucia: 0.327 index, 0 to 1, -0.149 typical gaps (standard deviations)Sri Lanka: 0.367 index, 0 to 1, 0.307 typical gaps (standard deviations)Lesotho: 0.534 index, 0 to 1, -0.581 typical gaps (standard deviations)Lithuania: 0.07 index, 0 to 1, 0.626 typical gaps (standard deviations)Luxembourg: 0.044 index, 0 to 1, 0.723 typical gaps (standard deviations)Latvia: 0.117 index, 0 to 1, 0.673 typical gaps (standard deviations)Morocco: 0.438 index, 0 to 1, -0.0339 typical gaps (standard deviations)Moldova: 0.146 index, 0 to 1, 0.412 typical gaps (standard deviations)Madagascar: 0.584 index, 0 to 1, -0.463 typical gaps (standard deviations)Maldives: 0.309 index, 0 to 1, 0.686 typical gaps (standard deviations)Mexico: 0.358 index, 0 to 1, 0.513 typical gaps (standard deviations)North Macedonia: 0.112 index, 0 to 1, 0.0322 typical gaps (standard deviations)Mali: 0.612 index, 0 to 1, -0.283 typical gaps (standard deviations)Malta: 0.111 index, 0 to 1, 0.947 typical gaps (standard deviations)Myanmar: 0.478 index, 0 to 1, -0.0589 typical gaps (standard deviations)Montenegro: 0.121 index, 0 to 1, -0.0101 typical gaps (standard deviations)Mongolia: 0.284 index, 0 to 1, 0.223 typical gaps (standard deviations)Mozambique: 0.479 index, 0 to 1, -0.745 typical gaps (standard deviations)Mauritania: 0.603 index, 0 to 1, -0.477 typical gaps (standard deviations)Mauritius: 0.352 index, 0 to 1, 0.632 typical gaps (standard deviations)Malawi: 0.581 index, 0 to 1, -0.169 typical gaps (standard deviations)Malaysia: 0.172 index, 0 to 1, 0.654 typical gaps (standard deviations)Namibia: 0.448 index, 0 to 1, -0.775 typical gaps (standard deviations)Niger: 0.591 index, 0 to 1, -0.233 typical gaps (standard deviations)Nigeria: 0.677 index, 0 to 1, -0.128 typical gaps (standard deviations)Nicaragua: 0.408 index, 0 to 1, 0.229 typical gaps (standard deviations)Netherlands: 0.013 index, 0 to 1, 0.804 typical gaps (standard deviations)Norway: 0.004 index, 0 to 1, 0.915 typical gaps (standard deviations)Nepal: 0.487 index, 0 to 1, -0.934 typical gaps (standard deviations)New Zealand: 0.082 index, 0 to 1, 0.721 typical gaps (standard deviations)Oman: 0.222 index, 0 to 1, 1.04 typical gaps (standard deviations)Pakistan: 0.536 index, 0 to 1, -0.988 typical gaps (standard deviations)Panama: 0.374 index, 0 to 1, 0.0819 typical gaps (standard deviations)Peru: 0.34 index, 0 to 1, -0.454 typical gaps (standard deviations)Philippines: 0.351 index, 0 to 1, 0.559 typical gaps (standard deviations)Papua New Guinea: 0.584 index, 0 to 1, -0.175 typical gaps (standard deviations)Poland: 0.081 index, 0 to 1, 0.842 typical gaps (standard deviations)Portugal: 0.076 index, 0 to 1, 0.843 typical gaps (standard deviations)Paraguay: 0.412 index, 0 to 1, -0.242 typical gaps (standard deviations)Qatar: 0.195 index, 0 to 1, 1.36 typical gaps (standard deviations)Romania: 0.227 index, 0 to 1, 0.637 typical gaps (standard deviations)Russian Federation: 0.169 index, 0 to 1, 1.14 typical gaps (standard deviations)Rwanda: 0.394 index, 0 to 1, -0.108 typical gaps (standard deviations)Saudi Arabia: 0.228 index, 0 to 1, 0.782 typical gaps (standard deviations)Sudan: 0.588 index, 0 to 1, -1.35 typical gaps (standard deviations)Senegal: 0.49 index, 0 to 1, -0.0349 typical gaps (standard deviations)Singapore: 0.031 index, 0 to 1, 1.05 typical gaps (standard deviations)Solomon Islands: 0.478 index, 0 to 1, -0.0344 typical gaps (standard deviations)Sierra Leone: 0.566 index, 0 to 1, -0.503 typical gaps (standard deviations)El Salvador: 0.362 index, 0 to 1, 0.523 typical gaps (standard deviations)Somalia, Fed. Rep.: 0.675 index, 0 to 1, -1.05 typical gaps (standard deviations)Serbia: 0.117 index, 0 to 1, 0.409 typical gaps (standard deviations)Sao Tome and Principe: 0.492 index, 0 to 1, -0.0345 typical gaps (standard deviations)Suriname: 0.391 index, 0 to 1, 0.385 typical gaps (standard deviations)Slovak Republic: 0.176 index, 0 to 1, 0.713 typical gaps (standard deviations)Slovenia: 0.042 index, 0 to 1, 0.914 typical gaps (standard deviations)Sweden: 0.007 index, 0 to 1, 0.531 typical gaps (standard deviations)Eswatini: 0.484 index, 0 to 1, -1.97 typical gaps (standard deviations)Syrian Arab Republic: 0.49 index, 0 to 1, -0.472 typical gaps (standard deviations)Chad: 0.67 index, 0 to 1, -0.409 typical gaps (standard deviations)Togo: 0.564 index, 0 to 1, -0.201 typical gaps (standard deviations)Thailand: 0.288 index, 0 to 1, 0.466 typical gaps (standard deviations)Tajikistan: 0.258 index, 0 to 1, 0.278 typical gaps (standard deviations)Timor-Leste: 0.394 index, 0 to 1, 0.141 typical gaps (standard deviations)Tonga: 0.444 index, 0 to 1, 0.576 typical gaps (standard deviations)Trinidad and Tobago: 0.262 index, 0 to 1, 0.701 typical gaps (standard deviations)Tunisia: 0.238 index, 0 to 1, -0.205 typical gaps (standard deviations)Turkiye: 0.227 index, 0 to 1, 0.224 typical gaps (standard deviations)Tanzania: 0.504 index, 0 to 1, -0.328 typical gaps (standard deviations)Uganda: 0.524 index, 0 to 1, -0.25 typical gaps (standard deviations)Uruguay: 0.218 index, 0 to 1, 0.298 typical gaps (standard deviations)United States: 0.169 index, 0 to 1, 0.862 typical gaps (standard deviations)Uzbekistan: 0.291 index, 0 to 1, 0.368 typical gaps (standard deviations)Viet Nam: 0.299 index, 0 to 1, 0.283 typical gaps (standard deviations)Vanuatu: 0.556 index, 0 to 1, -0.495 typical gaps (standard deviations)Samoa: 0.416 index, 0 to 1, 0.181 typical gaps (standard deviations)South Africa: 0.388 index, 0 to 1, -1.51 typical gaps (standard deviations)Zambia: 0.524 index, 0 to 1, -0.432 typical gaps (standard deviations)Zimbabwe: 0.519 index, 0 to 1, -0.673 typical gaps (standard deviations)AFGARECOGDJIGTMNGANORSGPSWZTONZAF

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted-0.7382.6e-30169
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted-0.7851.5e-36169
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income-0.3222.1e-5169
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income-0.2860.000169

The rank version uses only each country’s place in line, from lowest to highest, so a few extreme countries count for less. The adjusted and unadjusted versions use the same 169 countries: those that report both measures and GDP per person. So the gap between them comes from the adjustment, not from a change in which countries are counted. Drop in the size of r after adjusting: +0.416 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from -0.342 (without ALB) to -0.294 (without GUY). The bar above shows that range on a scale from −1 to +1, with the solid line at the full result. The single country that moves r most: GUY (+0.028).

Within each region

Countries are not separate, unrelated cases, and neighbors share a lot. A link that holds inside each region is far more believable than one that shows up only when comparing regions.

nr
East Asia & Pacific23-0.33
Europe & Central Asia46-0.01
Latin America & Caribbean28-0.30
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan21-0.12
Sub-Saharan Africa43-0.11

By income third

If the link shows up only in the richest third of countries, it is a feature of rich countries, not a general pattern.

nr
Poorest third57-0.39
Middle third56-0.22
Richest third56-0.24

By largest religious group

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Christians101-0.44
Muslims47-0.13

By last european coloniser

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
France24-0.31
Never a European colony20-0.40
Spain18-0.25
United Kingdom56-0.34

Without outliers (countries far outside the middle half of countries on either measure, by more than one and a half times the width of that middle half): r = -0.304 after dropping 3 countries.

Two series, one country

Both measures over the years for one country you pick. The two charts are stacked so they share only the years along the bottom.

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Over time, within countries

Everything above compares countries with each other at one moment. This section compares each country only with itself over 0years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

Not enough history inside each country to look at this over time. That needs countries measured for several years in a row, and at least one of these measures is measured too rarely.

The data


index, 0 to 1

typical gaps (standard deviations)
Years
Nigeria NGA0.677-0.1282023, 2025
Somalia, Fed. Rep. SOM0.675-1.052023, 2025
Chad TCD0.67-0.4092023, 2025
Afghanistan AFG0.661-1.262023, 2025
Liberia LBR0.646-0.3082023, 2025
Guinea-Bissau GNB0.632-0.2552023, 2025
Haiti HTI0.618-1.282023, 2025
Mali MLI0.612-0.2832023, 2025
Guinea GIN0.609-0.5392023, 2025
Congo, Dem. Rep. COD0.604-0.5232023, 2025
Mauritania MRT0.603-0.4772023, 2025
Niger NER0.591-0.2332023, 2025
Cote d'Ivoire CIV0.589-0.1222023, 2025
Sudan SDN0.588-1.352023, 2022
Papua New Guinea PNG0.584-0.1752023, 2025

United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2025
un_sdg; wdi

Sources

Gender Inequality Index

Gender Inequality Index

United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report Office · via Our World in Data · CC BY 3.0 IGO · updated annual

Built from deaths in childbirth, births to teenagers, seats in parliament, secondary schooling, and the share of women and men in the workforce. Five of those inputs are on the site and flagged. It is kept out of the gender score, for the same reason the HDI is kept out of the economy score.

Labour score

Labour score

PlaceStats · via PlaceStats · Derived work; each member keeps its own licence · updated recomputed with the panel

The average of 4 measures from 2 publishers. Each measure is first put on a common scale: 0 is the average country in an average year, and 1 is a typical gap between countries (a standard deviation). Each is turned so that higher is better. Measures are averaged within each publisher first, so a publisher with many measures does not count for more. Members: Informal employment, Vulnerable employment, Youth not in work or study, Unemployment.

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2018–2025. To adjust for income, each measure is first predicted from GDP per person (in percentage terms, on a log scale) with a straight-line fit. Only what is left over is then compared. This is called a partial correlation. The line is drawn the standard way (ordinary least squares), which picks the line that comes closest to all the countries at once. The error margins allow for countries in the same region resembling each other, using 7 World Bank regions. The q-value corrects for testing all 12,497 pairs at once, using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. Underlying data last updated DYB 2024. How the country data works · explore Gender Inequality Index and Labour score

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Gender Inequality Index changes Labour score, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Gender Inequality Index or Labour score