placestats

Gender Inequality Index vs. Political rights (FH)

Fades after adjusting for income

Across 169 countries, Gender Inequality Index and Political rights (FH) rise and fall together at r = +0.50 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) shrinks it to +0.18, which could easily be chance (q = 0.12, 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 political rights (fh), 2 to 6 points, gender inequality index is worse by 0.174 points at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 0.0343 points.

Link before adjusting (r)+0.502p = 3.6e-12 · 169 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.179p = 0.020 · likely range [+0.03, +0.32]
p, allowing for regions0.111standard error 0.096 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.121across 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
Political rights (FH) · rating (1-7, 1 = most free)link with income -0.48 · moderate

“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 →Political rights (FH) · rating (1-7, 1 = most free) →0.0030.67717Afghanistan: 0.661 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Angola: 0.515 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Albania: 0.107 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)United Arab Emirates: 0.04 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Argentina: 0.264 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Armenia: 0.18 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Antigua and Barbuda: 0.24 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Australia: 0.056 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Austria: 0.033 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Azerbaijan: 0.315 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Burundi: 0.501 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Belgium: 0.031 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Benin: 0.573 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Burkina Faso: 0.555 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Bangladesh: 0.487 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Bulgaria: 0.208 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Bahrain: 0.165 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Bahamas, The: 0.325 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Bosnia and Herzegovina: 0.157 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Belarus: 0.08 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Belize: 0.428 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Bolivia: 0.419 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Brazil: 0.39 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Barbados: 0.297 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Brunei Darussalam: 0.257 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Bhutan: 0.278 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Botswana: 0.49 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Canada: 0.052 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Switzerland: 0.01 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Chile: 0.102 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)China: 0.132 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Cote d'Ivoire: 0.589 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Cameroon: 0.558 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Congo, Dem. Rep.: 0.604 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Congo, Rep.: 0.565 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Colombia: 0.393 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Comoros: 0.501 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Cabo Verde: 0.298 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Costa Rica: 0.217 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Cyprus: 0.252 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Czechia: 0.088 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Germany: 0.057 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Djibouti: 0.481 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Denmark: 0.003 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Dominican Republic: 0.417 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Algeria: 0.443 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Ecuador: 0.358 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Egypt, Arab Rep.: 0.398 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Spain: 0.043 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Estonia: 0.061 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Ethiopia: 0.497 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Finland: 0.021 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Fiji: 0.35 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)France: 0.034 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Gabon: 0.505 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)United Kingdom: 0.083 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Georgia: 0.257 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Ghana: 0.514 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Guinea: 0.609 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Gambia, The: 0.578 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Guinea-Bissau: 0.632 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Greece: 0.103 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Grenada: 0.226 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Guatemala: 0.48 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Guyana: 0.427 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Honduras: 0.437 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Croatia: 0.074 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Haiti: 0.618 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Hungary: 0.213 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Indonesia: 0.423 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)India: 0.403 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Ireland: 0.054 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Iran, Islamic Rep.: 0.482 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Iraq: 0.558 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Iceland: 0.024 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Israel: 0.08 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Italy: 0.043 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Jamaica: 0.358 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Jordan: 0.433 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Japan: 0.059 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Kazakhstan: 0.182 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Kenya: 0.526 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Kyrgyz Republic: 0.34 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Cambodia: 0.506 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Korea, Rep.: 0.038 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Kuwait: 0.188 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Lao PDR: 0.475 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Lebanon: 0.36 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Liberia: 0.646 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Libya: 0.253 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)St. Lucia: 0.327 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Sri Lanka: 0.367 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Lesotho: 0.534 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Lithuania: 0.07 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Luxembourg: 0.044 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Latvia: 0.117 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Morocco: 0.438 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Moldova: 0.146 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Madagascar: 0.584 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Maldives: 0.309 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Mexico: 0.358 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)North Macedonia: 0.112 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Mali: 0.612 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Malta: 0.111 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Myanmar: 0.478 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Montenegro: 0.121 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Mongolia: 0.284 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Mozambique: 0.479 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Mauritania: 0.603 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Mauritius: 0.352 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Malawi: 0.581 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Malaysia: 0.172 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Namibia: 0.448 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Niger: 0.591 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Nigeria: 0.677 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Nicaragua: 0.408 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Netherlands: 0.013 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Norway: 0.004 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Nepal: 0.487 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)New Zealand: 0.082 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Oman: 0.222 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Pakistan: 0.536 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Panama: 0.374 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Peru: 0.34 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Philippines: 0.351 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Papua New Guinea: 0.584 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Poland: 0.081 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Portugal: 0.076 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Paraguay: 0.412 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Qatar: 0.195 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Romania: 0.227 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Russian Federation: 0.169 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Rwanda: 0.394 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Saudi Arabia: 0.228 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Sudan: 0.588 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Senegal: 0.49 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Singapore: 0.031 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Solomon Islands: 0.478 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Sierra Leone: 0.566 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)El Salvador: 0.362 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Somalia, Fed. Rep.: 0.675 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Serbia: 0.117 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Sao Tome and Principe: 0.492 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Suriname: 0.391 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Slovak Republic: 0.176 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Slovenia: 0.042 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Sweden: 0.007 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Eswatini: 0.484 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Syrian Arab Republic: 0.49 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Chad: 0.67 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Togo: 0.564 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Thailand: 0.288 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Tajikistan: 0.258 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Timor-Leste: 0.394 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Tonga: 0.444 index, 0 to 1, 3 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Trinidad and Tobago: 0.262 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Tunisia: 0.238 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Turkiye: 0.227 index, 0 to 1, 5 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Tanzania: 0.504 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Uganda: 0.524 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Uruguay: 0.218 index, 0 to 1, 1 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)United States: 0.169 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Uzbekistan: 0.291 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Viet Nam: 0.299 index, 0 to 1, 7 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Vanuatu: 0.556 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Samoa: 0.416 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)South Africa: 0.388 index, 0 to 1, 2 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Zambia: 0.524 index, 0 to 1, 4 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)Zimbabwe: 0.519 index, 0 to 1, 6 rating (1-7, 1 = most free)AFGAREBLRCHNDNKLBRMWINORSOMSWETCDVUT

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted+0.5023.6e-12169
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted+0.5384.8e-14169
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.1790.020169
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income+0.1840.017169

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: +0.323 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.159 (without GAB) to +0.202 (without BLR). 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: BLR (+0.023).

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+0.40
Europe & Central Asia46+0.39
Latin America & Caribbean28+0.48
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan21+0.18
Sub-Saharan Africa43+0.30

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+0.03
Middle third56-0.06
Richest third56+0.44

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+0.16
Muslims47-0.12

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+0.11
Never a European colony20+0.17
Spain18+0.29
United Kingdom56+0.11

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 = +0.179 after dropping 0 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 34years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

Within countries over time, there is no link that is clearly more than chance (r = +0.056, comparing each country only with itself over the years, and each year only with the same year elsewhere). Whatever the cross-country picture shows, countries whose gender inequality index moved did not tend to see their political rights (fh) move with it.

Across countries (adjusted)+0.179for comparison
Within countries+0.024each country vs itself
…and vs the same year elsewhere+0.056q = 0.272 · 169 countries
Year-on-year changes+0.005q = 0.925

4,592 country-years (one country in one year), 169 countries, 1990–2023, about 27 years each on average. Share of the variation that happens within countries over time: 11% for Gender Inequality Index, 13% for Political rights (FH). The margins of error allow for each country appearing many times, and for each year’s value being close to the year before.

Year-to-year changes are a cautious test, not a final answer. Looking only at changes from one year to the next removes each country’s own trends. But it also makes measurement mistakes louder, which pulls the results toward zero. A near-zero result here is weak evidence of no link, not proof.

With one measure years behind the other

0.10−0.1-100+10years Political rights (FH) trails Gender Inequality Index →lag -10: r = 0.003 (n = 3,651)lag -9: r = 0.005 (n = 3,764)lag -8: r = 0.004 (n = 3,872)lag -7: r = 0.013 (n = 3,975)lag -6: r = 0.018 (n = 4,077)lag -5: r = 0.024 (n = 4,179)lag -4: r = 0.029 (n = 4,267)lag -3: r = 0.037 (n = 4,352)lag -2: r = 0.048 (n = 4,432)lag -1: r = 0.050 (n = 4,512)lag +0: r = 0.056 (n = 4,592)lag +1: r = 0.059 (n = 4,592)lag +2: r = 0.062 (n = 4,592)lag +3: r = 0.065 (n = 4,415)lag +4: r = 0.071 (n = 4,232)lag +5: r = 0.072 (n = 4,065)lag +6: r = 0.064 (n = 3,895)lag +7: r = 0.059 (n = 3,723)lag +8: r = 0.052 (n = 3,558)lag +9: r = 0.046 (n = 3,399)lag +10: r = 0.036 (n = 3,245)

Same year (lag 0): +0.056. A peak away from zero does not show which comes first. These series change slowly — this year’s value is close to last year’s. That makes the curve smooth and nearly symmetric, whatever produced the data. Even a sharp peak at one lag (a gap of some years) would not prove that one measure changes the other.

The data


index, 0 to 1

rating (1-7, 1 = most free)
Years
Nigeria NGA0.67742023, 2025
Somalia, Fed. Rep. SOM0.67572023, 2025
Chad TCD0.6772023, 2025
Afghanistan AFG0.66172023, 2025
Liberia LBR0.64622023, 2025
Guinea-Bissau GNB0.63262023, 2025
Haiti HTI0.61872023, 2025
Mali MLI0.61272023, 2025
Guinea GIN0.60962023, 2025
Congo, Dem. Rep. COD0.60472023, 2025
Mauritania MRT0.60352023, 2025
Niger NER0.59172023, 2025
Cote d'Ivoire CIV0.58952023, 2025
Sudan SDN0.58872023, 2025
Papua New Guinea PNG0.58442023, 2025

United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2025
Freedom House, Freedom in the World

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.

Political rights (FH)

Political rights rating

Freedom House · via Our World in Data · Free to use with attribution · updated annual

Scored 1 to 7, where 1 is most free. That is the reverse of most measures on this site. Covers elections, the freedom to form competing parties, and how government works. Freedom House changed its method in 2003, adding scores for smaller categories. But the 1-7 ratings are still the published series that runs through all the years.

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2023–2025. 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 Political rights (FH)

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

More links with Gender Inequality Index or Political rights (FH)