Research conducted by the World Economic Forum has revealed the global changes in equality between men and women.
The Global Gender Gap report analyses female participation in four key categories: the economy, education, health and politics.
"Only those economies who have full access to all their talent will remain competitive and will prosper," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the forum."But even more important, gender equality is a matter of justice."
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Here are the key lessons from this year's report:
The gap is narrowing – but very slowly.
Overall, the majority of countries are showing signs of improvement, but progress is slow. Researchers predict that if current trends continue, total equality will not be achieved until 2095.
Nordic countries continue to lead the way
Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark continue to occupy the top five positions. While no country has yet fully closed the gender gap – Nordic countries are more than 80 per cent of the way there. The governments in these countries excel at distributing resources and opportunities equally between both men and women.
Rwanda enters the ranking
The central African country enters the rankings in 7th position, as the highest-rated developing country in the world. In a nation where more than 44 per cent of the population live in poverty, it has managed to achieve a greater level of equality than the UK, the US or Germany. Women are almost equal members of the economy and the labour force and hold the majority of seats in its 100-seat parliament – the highest proportion in the world.
The UK drops to 26th place
This year, the UK has slipped eight places to 26th position, its lowest placing since the first report was published in 2008.
Overall, the UK has been given an equality rating of 73 per cent, with its lowest score coming in the political empowerment category. Less than a third of people in parliament are women and only 19 per cent of all ministerial positions are held by women.
In terms of wages, women are paid only 69 per cent of what men in identical positions receive. The recession can be blamed for the widening of the gender pay gap in the UK, according to the BBC.
"The issue in the UK is that while there are more women in the workplace they tend to be in the lower-level positions," Ann Francke, the chief executive of the trade body the Chartered Management Institute told The Guardian. "The pay gaps continue to be alarmingly large for men and women doing the same senior role."
