Gender

Benchmarking female participation in firm ownership and the workforce is important to achieving the third Millennium Development Goal of gender equality promotion and empowerment of women. The gender topic provides information about women's entrepreneurship and economic participation in the labor force. The four indicators on this page measure women's participation in businesses in 118 countries. The results are based on surveys of more than 100,000 firms. A database query tool is available to gauge gender participation differences across various firm subgroups. You can also generate graphs to compare countries.

To see the details for a specific economy, click on the links below. Click on column headers to sort data.

Export to Excel | Indicator descriptions

Country	% of Firms With Female Participation in Ownership	% of Full Time Female Workers*	% of Female Permanent Full-time Non-production Workers *	% of Firms With Female Top Manager
All countries	31.63	28.94	9.32	17.29
East Asia & Pacific	32.96	41.97	8.38	22.52
Eastern Europe & Central Asia	36.21	38.23	12.40	18.88
Latin America & Caribbean	38.94	31.24	12.63	..
Middle East & North Africa	20.18	17.72	4.63	..
OECD	31.71	..	..	..
South Asia	15.56	16.06	2.14	7.06
Sub-Saharan Africa	29.14	22.90	6.37	14.95
Afghanistan (2008)	2.81	3.28	0.53	0.75
Albania (2007)	10.83	37.47	8.91	..
Algeria (2007)	15.03	20.82	5.07	..
Angola (2006)	23.38	16.33	6.34	..
Argentina (2006)	30.26	21.70	11.26	..
Armenia (2009)	31.78	36.89	12.78	13.49
Azerbaijan (2009)	10.79	30.24	6.62	4.72
Bangladesh (2007)	16.08	19.39	0.96	..
Belarus (2008)	52.94	49.26	14.73	24.84
Benin (2009)	43.92	24.52	..	27.50
Bhutan (2009)	31.31	14.23	..	..
Bolivia (2006)	41.10	32.18	14.55	..
Bosnia and Herzegovina (2009)	32.78	32.44	13.79	13.50
Botswana (2006)	40.91	43.12	11.16	..
Brazil (2009)	59.31	35.16	12.40	..
Bulgaria (2009)	33.93	43.27	11.44	25.75
Burkina Faso (2009)	19.24	21.55	6.41	11.32
Burundi (2006)	34.81	11.01	5.43	..
Cambodia (2007)	..	..	..	..
Cameroon (2009)	15.70	27.58	10.42	10.04
Cape Verde (2009)	33.10	49.75	..	16.70
Chad (2009)	40.09	11.41	..	6.81
Chile (2006)	27.80	26.51	12.20	..
China (2003)	..	42.53	..	..
Colombia (2006)	43.04	52.46	16.81	..
Congo, Dem. Rep. (2006)	21.20	11.77	6.32	..
Congo, Rep. (2009)	31.77	24.77	..	17.17
Costa Rica (2005)	65.26	24.42	6.55	..
Côte d'Ivoire (2009)	61.94	28.98	3.92	..
Croatia (2007)	33.54	35.68	12.60	..
Czech Republic (2009)	25.01	31.16	12.58	18.42
Dominican Republic (2005)	..	21.68	..	..
Ecuador (2006)	32.72	24.13	13.04	..
Egypt, Arab Rep. (2008)	33.96	16.43	4.19	..
El Salvador (2006)	39.56	38.94	16.39	..
Eritrea (2009)	4.24	40.43	..	7.65
Estonia (2009)	36.26	44.19	18.63	25.81
Ethiopia (2006)	30.91	25.32	..	..
Gabon (2009)	33.11	24.25	..	11.52
Gambia, the (2006)	21.34	16.21	3.65	..
Georgia (2008)	40.84	42.76	11.26	19.77
Germany (2005)	20.31	..	..	..
Ghana (2007)	44.01	34.37	4.68	..
Greece (2005)	24.41	..	..	..
Guatemala (2006)	28.43	24.61	15.13	..
Guinea (2006)	25.43	20.81	2.86	..
Guinea-Bissau (2006)	19.93	5.12	2.10	..
Guyana (2004)	..	32.00	5.48	..
Honduras (2006)	39.89	22.47	11.38	..
Hungary (2009)	42.38	33.88	13.03	13.79
India (2006)	9.11	5.08	..	..
Indonesia (2003)	..	27.26	1.60	..
Ireland (2005)	41.59	..	..	..
Jamaica (2005)	32.18	44.26	..	..
Jordan (2006)	13.13	14.87	3.63	..
Kazakhstan (2009)	34.43	41.35	15.04	24.69
Kenya (2007)	37.10	20.83	7.99	..
Korea, Rep. (2005)	19.12	..	..	..
Kosovo (2009)	10.92	18.51	4.65	0.32
Kyrgyz Republic (2009)	60.43	42.62	11.28	23.02
Lao PDR (2009)	39.38	43.55	..	..
Latvia (2009)	46.26	43.02	12.56	31.28
Lebanon (2006)	27.88	24.36	..	..
Lesotho (2009)	18.39	38.39	..	21.60
Liberia (2009)	52.97	22.92	..	29.93
Lithuania (2009)	38.70	41.81	14.78	15.05
Macedonia, FYR (2009)	36.40	32.41	8.56	19.13
Madagascar (2009)	50.04	27.52	8.90	..
Malawi (2009)	23.85	23.01	..	15.62
Malaysia (2007)	13.06	28.40	5.34	8.68
Mali (2007)	18.35	7.33	1.49	..
Mauritania (2006)	17.26	5.08	3.50	..
Mauritius (2009)	16.87	30.11	8.12	..
Mexico (2006)	24.81	34.54	12.35	..
Moldova (2009)	53.06	40.64	14.40	20.60
Mongolia (2009)	52.00	48.52	16.17	36.36
Montenegro (2009)	25.97	51.10	16.66	24.49
Morocco (2007)	13.12	39.80	7.60	..
Mozambique (2007)	24.43	13.53	5.49	..
Namibia (2006)	33.38	27.11	8.48	..
Nepal (2009)	27.35	20.68	6.71	13.37
Nicaragua (2006)	41.41	21.04	10.59	..
Niger (2009)	17.59	13.44	..	11.28
Nigeria (2007)	19.96	16.83	4.70	..
Oman (2003)	..	4.50	6.81	..
Pakistan (2007)	6.70	1.23	0.17	..
Panama (2006)	37.13	31.45	16.33	..
Paraguay (2006)	44.76	31.81	13.45	..
Peru (2006)	32.82	36.59	12.49	..
Philippines (2003)	..	51.23	8.37	..
Poland (2009)	47.91	40.01	11.87	31.07
Portugal (2005)	50.76	..	..	..
Romania (2009)	47.93	54.65	10.59	24.67
Russian Federation (2009)	33.05	41.58	14.51	14.33
Rwanda (2006)	40.98	30.26	10.41	..
Senegal (2007)	26.33	10.13	3.93	..
Serbia (2009)	28.76	33.93	17.67	15.87
Sierra Leone (2009)	7.88	17.43	..	7.09
Slovak Republic (2009)	30.90	42.39	16.90	25.79
Slovenia (2009)	42.18	29.95	14.90	15.86
South Africa (2007)	22.60	29.07	9.03	..
Spain (2005)	34.10	..	..	..
Sri Lanka (2004)	..	48.54	2.33	..
Swaziland (2006)	28.56	42.49	12.38	..
Syrian Arab Republic (2003)	..	3.24	0.45	..
Tajikistan (2008)	34.39	31.43	8.09	11.82
Tanzania (2006)	30.93	22.77	4.06	..
Thailand (2006)	..	52.32	10.39	..
Togo (2009)	31.84	25.01	..	15.11
Turkey (2008)	40.68	24.86	6.71	12.41
Uganda (2006)	34.73	17.58	7.15	..
Ukraine (2008)	47.12	46.96	12.63	27.91
Uruguay (2006)	41.56	37.61	14.35	..
Uzbekistan (2008)	39.80	34.12	11.36	11.38
Venezuela, R.B. (2006)	..	..	..	..
Vietnam (2005)	27.41	..	..	..
West Bank and Gaza (2006)	18.00	..	..	..
Zambia (2007)	37.21	14.83	6.59	..

Note:
* For survey data collected in 2006 and 2007, this indicator is computed for the Manufacturing module only.
**Please, note that in the case of BEEPS 2008 surveys the question was asked to the firms that have confirmed that they have applied for Government contract in the last fiscal year while in the previous rounds of BEEPS the question was asked to all firms participating in the survey.
*** Due to differences in scales used in the ECA countries in 2002 and 2005 (four points) and those used in the 2008 surveys (five points) indicators based on business constraints questions are not fully comparable. End users are encouraged to keep this in mind when analyzing historical trends. Users can download the raw data for additional information.