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Countries with the Biggest Gender Disparities in their Workforces

Published

3 months ago

June 10, 2024

Pallavi Rao

Graphics/Design:

Bhabna Banerjee

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Countries with the Biggest Gender Disparities in Workforces

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic ranks the countries with the biggest gender disparities in their labor forces by contrasting the average male and female labor force participation rate and measuring the gap between them.

Data for this graphic is sourced from the World Bank, which aggregates 2023 International Labour Organization estimates.

ℹ️ A country’s labor force includes people aged 15+ who are working or actively looking for work in exchange for pay, profit, or shared production. Unpaid workers, family caretakers, students, and military personnel may be excluded from this count.

Ranked: Differences in Male and Female Labor Participation Rates

The top 10 countries with the highest discrepancies between male and female labor participation rates are Islamic nations:

Rank	Country	Male Labor Force Participation Rate (%)	Female Labor Force Participation Rate (%)	Gender Disparity (In percentage points)
1	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	69	5	64
2	🇮🇶 Iraq	72	11	61
3	🇵🇰 Pakistan	81	25	57
4	🇴🇲 Oman	88	32	56
5	🇮🇷 Iran	71	14	56
6	🇾🇪 Yemen	60	5	55
7	🇪🇬 Egypt	71	17	55
8	🇩🇿 Algeria	67	17	50
9	🇸🇾 Syria	64	14	50
10	🇯🇴 Jordan	63	14	49
11	🇲🇦 Morocco	68	20	49
12	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	80	35	45
13	🇮🇳 India	77	33	44
14	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	80	37	43
15	🇧🇭 Bahrain	87	44	43
16	🇹🇳 Tunisia	69	27	42
17	🇬🇹 Guatemala	81	41	40
18	🇸🇩 Sudan	68	28	40
19	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	72	32	40
20	🇰🇼 Kuwait	86	48	38
N/A	🌍 World	73	49	24

Note: Figures rounded and based on International Labour Organization’s estimates as of 2023.

In countries such as Pakistan, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, the male labor force participation rates are higher than the global average. Meanwhile the female participation rates are 50+ percentage points lower than the corresponding male rates, and 15-25 points below the global female average.

For the other countries in the top 10 by labor participation rate differential, the average male participation rate is also below the global average. This could indicate a lack of general economic opportunities with the nation.

Finally, India (#13), Guatemala (#17) and Sri Lanka (#19) are three countries in the top 20 with a non-Islamic majority population.