Legal rights for women

How far the law gives women the same freedom of movement, work, pay and property as men.

measured by: World Bank
years covered: 1970–2023
subject: Personal

Higher means more freedom.

How this is measured

Thirty-five yes-or-no questions across eight areas — mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets and pensions — each asking whether the law treats a woman the same as a man, averaged to a score out of 100. It reads statute books rather than lives: a country scoring 100 has removed the legal barriers, not necessarily the practical ones. Coded back to 1970, so it shows reform happening.

Ranked for 2023

164 countries and territories have a figure for 2023. This is the most recent year the series covers well; the viewer holds every year from 1970.

#	Country	Region	Women’s rights
1	Belgium	Europe	100.0
2	Canada	Americas	100.0
3	Germany	Europe	100.0
4	Denmark	Europe	100.0
5	Spain	Europe	100.0
6	France	Europe	100.0
7	Greece	Europe	100.0
8	Ireland	Europe	100.0
9	Iceland	Europe	100.0
10	Luxembourg	Europe	100.0
11	Latvia	Europe	100.0
12	Netherlands	Europe	100.0
13	Portugal	Europe	100.0
14	Sweden	Europe	100.0
15	Estonia	Europe	97.5
16	Finland	Europe	97.5
17	United Kingdom	Europe	97.5
18	Italy	Europe	97.5
19	New Zealand	Asia-Pacific	97.5
20	Togo	Sub-Saharan Africa	97.5
21	Australia	Asia-Pacific	96.9
22	Austria	Europe	96.9
23	Cyprus	Europe	96.9
24	Norway	Europe	96.9
25	Slovenia	Europe	96.9
26	Côte d'Ivoire	Sub-Saharan Africa	95.0
27	Gabon	Sub-Saharan Africa	95.0
28	Peru	Americas	95.0
29	Paraguay	Americas	94.4
30	Czechia	Europe	93.8
31	Croatia	Europe	93.8
32	Hungary	Europe	93.8
33	Lithuania	Europe	93.8
34	Poland	Europe	93.8
35	Serbia	Europe	93.8
36	Sierra Leone	Sub-Saharan Africa	92.5
37	Costa Rica	Americas	91.9
38	Rwanda	Sub-Saharan Africa	91.9
39	Albania	Europe	91.3
40	United States	Americas	91.3
41	Armenia	Eurasia	90.6
42	Bulgaria	Europe	90.6
43	Moldova	Eurasia	90.6
44	Mongolia	Asia-Pacific	90.6
45	Romania	Europe	90.6
46	Ecuador	Americas	89.4
47	Bolivia	Americas	88.8
48	Mexico	Americas	88.8
49	El Salvador	Americas	88.8
50	Uruguay	Americas	88.8
51	Switzerland	Europe	88.1
52	Georgia	Eurasia	88.1
53	South Korea	Asia-Pacific	88.1
54	Vietnam	Asia-Pacific	88.1
55	South Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	88.1
56	Slovakia	Europe	87.5
57	Guyana	Americas	86.9
58	Zimbabwe	Sub-Saharan Africa	86.9
59	Dominican Republic	Americas	86.3
60	Nicaragua	Americas	86.3
61	Timor-Leste	Asia-Pacific	86.3
62	Laos	Asia-Pacific	85.6
63	Azerbaijan	Eurasia	85.0
64	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	85.0
65	Brazil	Americas	85.0
66	North Macedonia	Europe	85.0
67	Montenegro	Europe	85.0
68	Ukraine	Eurasia	85.0
69	Venezuela	Americas	85.0
70	Colombia	Americas	84.4
71	Benin	Sub-Saharan Africa	83.8
72	Kenya	Sub-Saharan Africa	83.8
73	Puerto Rico	Americas	83.8
74	Uganda	Sub-Saharan Africa	83.8
75	United Arab Emirates	Middle East & North Africa	82.5
76	Burkina Faso	Sub-Saharan Africa	82.5
77	Belize	Americas	82.5
78	Fiji	Asia-Pacific	82.5
79	Mozambique	Sub-Saharan Africa	82.5
80	Turkey	Eurasia	82.5
81	Uzbekistan	Eurasia	82.5
82	Bahamas	Americas	81.3
83	Cambodia	Asia-Pacific	81.3
84	Liberia	Sub-Saharan Africa	81.3
85	Tanzania	Sub-Saharan Africa	81.3
86	Zambia	Sub-Saharan Africa	81.3
87	Israel	Middle East & North Africa	80.6
88	Lesotho	Sub-Saharan Africa	80.6
89	Nepal	Asia-Pacific	80.6
90	Chile	Americas	80.0
91	Ethiopia	Sub-Saharan Africa	80.0
92	Malawi	Sub-Saharan Africa	80.0
93	Namibia	Sub-Saharan Africa	80.0
94	Angola	Sub-Saharan Africa	79.4
95	Argentina	Americas	79.4
96	Panama	Americas	79.4
97	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Sub-Saharan Africa	78.8
98	Japan	Asia-Pacific	78.8
99	Philippines	Asia-Pacific	78.8
100	Tajikistan	Eurasia	78.8
101	China	Asia-Pacific	78.1
102	Thailand	Asia-Pacific	78.1
103	Central African Republic	Sub-Saharan Africa	77.5
104	Kyrgyzstan	Eurasia	76.9
105	Suriname	Americas	76.9
106	Burundi	Sub-Saharan Africa	76.3
107	Belarus	Eurasia	75.6
108	Kazakhstan	Eurasia	75.6
109	Morocco	Middle East & North Africa	75.6
110	Bhutan	Asia-Pacific	75.0
111	Ghana	Sub-Saharan Africa	75.0
112	Honduras	Americas	75.0
113	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	75.0
114	India	Asia-Pacific	74.4
115	Jamaica	Americas	74.4
116	Guinea	Sub-Saharan Africa	73.8
117	Guatemala	Americas	73.8
118	Russia	Eurasia	73.1
119	Senegal	Sub-Saharan Africa	72.5
120	Djibouti	Sub-Saharan Africa	71.3
121	Saudi Arabia	Middle East & North Africa	71.3
122	Indonesia	Asia-Pacific	70.6
123	Eritrea	Sub-Saharan Africa	69.4
124	Gambia	Sub-Saharan Africa	69.4
125	Madagascar	Sub-Saharan Africa	69.4
126	South Sudan	Sub-Saharan Africa	67.5
127	Nigeria	Sub-Saharan Africa	66.3
128	Chad	Sub-Saharan Africa	66.3
129	Sri Lanka	Asia-Pacific	65.6
130	Tunisia	Middle East & North Africa	64.4
131	Botswana	Sub-Saharan Africa	63.8
132	Mali	Sub-Saharan Africa	63.8
133	Haiti	Americas	61.3
134	Malaysia	Asia-Pacific	60.6
135	Cameroon	Sub-Saharan Africa	60.0
136	Papua New Guinea	Asia-Pacific	60.0
137	Jordan	Middle East & North Africa	59.4
138	Lebanon	Middle East & North Africa	58.8
139	Myanmar	Asia-Pacific	58.8
140	Pakistan	Asia-Pacific	58.8
141	Congo	Sub-Saharan Africa	58.1
142	Equatorial Guinea	Sub-Saharan Africa	58.1
143	Algeria	Middle East & North Africa	57.5
144	Solomon Islands	Asia-Pacific	56.9
145	Vanuatu	Asia-Pacific	55.6
146	Niger	Sub-Saharan Africa	53.8
147	Brunei	Asia-Pacific	53.1
148	Guinea-Bissau	Sub-Saharan Africa	51.9
149	Egypt	Middle East & North Africa	50.6
150	Libya	Middle East & North Africa	50.0
151	Bangladesh	Asia-Pacific	49.4
152	Iraq	Middle East & North Africa	48.1
153	Mauritania	Sub-Saharan Africa	48.1
154	Somalia	Sub-Saharan Africa	46.9
155	Oman	Middle East & North Africa	46.3
156	Eswatini	Sub-Saharan Africa	46.3
157	Syria	Middle East & North Africa	40.0
158	Kuwait	Middle East & North Africa	38.1
159	Qatar	Middle East & North Africa	35.6
160	Sudan	Sub-Saharan Africa	32.5
161	Afghanistan	Asia-Pacific	31.9
162	Iran	Middle East & North Africa	31.3
163	Yemen	Middle East & North Africa	26.9
164	Palestine	Middle East & North Africa	26.3

Data by year

Show 54 yearly JSON rankings

Follow a year link to open the complete world ranking, including country names, values, positions, source and licence.

Source and licence

World Bank — Women, Business and the Law

CC BY 4.0. Women, Business and the Law, World Bank How every source was checked

Other personal statistics

Freedom of expression Freedom of association Civil liberties Freedom from political violence Equal protection of rights Academic freedom Media censorship effort Harassment of journalists Media self-censorship Universal right to vote Women can get a passport as men do Access to justice for women Access to justice for men Civil liberties score Political rights score