⚠️ Unconfirmedsocial2024

Women, Business and the Law (WBL) Index — legal equality score (0–100)

Name: Women, Business and the Law (WBL) Index — legal equality score (0–100)
Creator: World Bank
Keywords: statistic-of-the-day, ai-generated, gender, law, women, labor-market, rights, equality, institutions, World Bank, WBL

World Bank WBL Index (0–100) measures women’s legal rights across 8 areas. Compare 190 economies in 2024 using a single score.

Source: World Bank•170 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average

80.9points (0–100)

Median: 84.4points (0–100)

Countries Covered

170

with available data

Highest

Canada

100.0points (0–100)

Lowest

Eritrea

26.9points (0–100)

Top 5 Countries

1Canada100.0points (0–100)

2Costa Rica100.0points (0–100)

3Croatia100.0points (0–100)

4Czech Republic100.0points (0–100)

5Denmark100.0points (0–100)

By Region

Europe98.0points (0–100)(32 countries)

South America94.3points (0–100)(7 countries)

North America88.0points (0–100)(4 countries)

Oceania87.5points (0–100)(2 countries)

Other77.8points (0–100)(90 countries)

Key Findings

•Legal equality varies widely, from economies scoring 100 to others below 40, indicating large gaps in women’s formal legal rights.
•High scores cluster in many OECD/EU economies, but several middle-income countries also reach 100, showing legal reform is not income-exclusive.
•Common drivers of lower scores include restrictions related to marriage, parenthood (leave provisions), and pension rules.
•Because it’s law-based, the WBL Index is especially useful for tracking year-to-year legal reforms and comparing specific policy areas across countries.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (26.9points (0–100))High (100.0points (0–100))

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 80.9points (0–100))

Europe (32)

South America (7)

North America (4)

Oceania (2)

Other (90)

Asia (26)

Africa (9)

About This Statistic

The Women, Business and the Law (WBL) Index is a World Bank indicator that summarizes how laws and regulations affect women’s economic opportunity. It scores economies from 0 to 100 based on whether women have the same legal rights as men across eight areas: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension.

A score of 100 indicates full legal equality in the areas measured (on paper), while lower scores indicate legal restrictions that can limit women’s participation in the economy. The WBL is widely used by researchers and policymakers because it is comparable across countries and directly tied to codified laws—though it does not measure enforcement or real-world outcomes.

Full Data

Rank ↑	Country ↕	Value ↕
1	Canada	100.0points (0–100)
2	Costa Rica	100.0points (0–100)
3	Croatia	100.0points (0–100)
4	Czech Republic	100.0points (0–100)
5	Denmark	100.0points (0–100)
6	Finland	100.0points (0–100)
7	France	100.0points (0–100)
8	Germany	100.0points (0–100)
9	Greece	100.0points (0–100)
10	Hungary	100.0points (0–100)
11	Iceland	100.0points (0–100)
12	Ireland	100.0points (0–100)
13	Italy	100.0points (0–100)
14	Japan	100.0points (0–100)
15	South Korea	100.0points (0–100)
16	Latvia	100.0points (0–100)
17	Lithuania	100.0points (0–100)
18	Luxembourg	100.0points (0–100)
19	Montenegro	100.0points (0–100)
20	Netherlands	100.0points (0–100)
21	New Zealand	100.0points (0–100)
22	Norway	100.0points (0–100)
23	Poland	100.0points (0–100)
24	Portugal	100.0points (0–100)
25	Serbia	100.0points (0–100)
26	Slovakia	100.0points (0–100)
27	Slovenia	100.0points (0–100)
28	Spain	100.0points (0–100)
29	Sweden	100.0points (0–100)
30	Switzerland	100.0points (0–100)
31	United Kingdom	100.0points (0–100)
32	Uruguay	100.0points (0–100)
33	Argentina	100.0points (0–100)
34	Austria	100.0points (0–100)
35	Barbados	100.0points (0–100)
36	Bolivia	100.0points (0–100)
37	Brazil	100.0points (0–100)
38	Estonia	97.5points (0–100)
39	Trinidad and Tobago	97.5points (0–100)
40	Belgium	97.5points (0–100)
41	Cameroon	96.9points (0–100)
42	Colombia	94.4points (0–100)
43	Singapore	92.5points (0–100)
44	Myanmar	91.9points (0–100)
45	Chile	91.9points (0–100)
46	Benin	91.9points (0–100)
47	Ecuador	91.9points (0–100)
48	Hong Kong	91.9points (0–100)
49	Mauritius	91.9points (0–100)
50	Namibia	91.9points (0–100)
51	New Caledonia	91.9points (0–100)
52	Vanuatu	91.9points (0–100)
53	Suriname	91.9points (0–100)
54	The Republic of North Macedonia	91.9points (0–100)
55	United States of America	91.9points (0–100)
56	Venezuela	91.9points (0–100)
57	Afghanistan	91.9points (0–100)
58	Belarus	91.3points (0–100)
59	Kyrgyzstan	91.3points (0–100)
60	Moldova, Republic of	91.3points (0–100)
61	Romania	91.3points (0–100)
62	Russian Federation	91.3points (0–100)
63	Ukraine	91.3points (0–100)
64	Burundi	90.6points (0–100)
65	Central African Republic	90.6points (0–100)
66	Gabon	90.6points (0–100)
67	Zimbabwe	88.8points (0–100)
68	Israel	87.5points (0–100)
69	Mongolia	86.9points (0–100)
70	Panama	86.9points (0–100)
71	Paraguay	86.9points (0–100)
72	Samoa	86.9points (0–100)
73	Belize	86.9points (0–100)
74	Türkiye	85.0points (0–100)
75	Bulgaria	84.4points (0–100)
76	Republic of the Congo	84.4points (0–100)
77	Democratic Republic of the Congo	84.4points (0–100)
78	Dominican Republic	84.4points (0–100)
79	Georgia	84.4points (0–100)
80	Cote d'Ivoire	84.4points (0–100)
81	Jamaica	84.4points (0–100)
82	Guinea-Bissau	84.4points (0–100)
83	Seychelles	84.4points (0–100)
84	Burkina Faso	84.4points (0–100)
85	Bahamas	84.4points (0–100)
86	Armenia	84.4points (0–100)
87	Republic of The Gambia	82.5points (0–100)
88	Senegal	82.5points (0–100)
89	United Arab Emirates	82.5points (0–100)
90	Mexico	81.9points (0–100)
91	Peru	81.9points (0–100)
92	Sri Lanka	80.6points (0–100)
93	Kenya	80.6points (0–100)
94	Lesotho	80.6points (0–100)
95	Papua New Guinea	80.6points (0–100)
96	Thailand	80.6points (0–100)
97	Kazakhstan	79.4points (0–100)
98	Uganda	79.4points (0–100)
99	Bermuda	79.4points (0–100)
100	South Africa	78.8points (0–100)
101	Cambodia	78.1points (0–100)
102	El Salvador	78.1points (0–100)
103	Guatemala	78.1points (0–100)
104	Honduras	78.1points (0–100)
105	Madagascar	78.1points (0–100)
106	Nicaragua	78.1points (0–100)
107	People's Republic of China	77.5points (0–100)
108	Philippines	76.3points (0–100)
109	Chad	75.6points (0–100)
110	Mozambique	75.6points (0–100)
111	Sierra Leone	75.6points (0–100)
112	Vietnam	75.6points (0–100)
113	United Republic of Tanzania	75.6points (0–100)
114	Cayman Islands	75.0points (0–100)
115	Australia	75.0points (0–100)
116	Guinea	74.4points (0–100)
117	India	74.4points (0–100)
118	Eswatini	74.4points (0–100)
119	Albania	74.4points (0–100)
120	Solomon Islands	74.4points (0–100)
121	Cyprus	73.8points (0–100)
122	Liberia	73.8points (0–100)
123	Malawi	73.8points (0–100)
124	Mali	73.8points (0–100)
125	Niger	73.8points (0–100)
126	Rwanda	73.8points (0–100)
127	Somalia	73.8points (0–100)
128	Togo	73.8points (0–100)
129	Zambia	73.8points (0–100)
130	Bangladesh	73.8points (0–100)
131	Ghana	73.1points (0–100)
132	North Korea	73.1points (0–100)
133	Lao People's Democratic Republic	73.1points (0–100)
134	Mauritania	73.1points (0–100)
135	Nigeria	73.1points (0–100)
136	Angola	73.1points (0–100)
137	Bhutan	71.9points (0–100)
138	Tajikistan	71.3points (0–100)
139	Tunisia	71.3points (0–100)
140	Uzbekistan	70.0points (0–100)
141	Botswana	70.0points (0–100)
142	Kuwait	69.4points (0–100)
143	Ethiopia	67.5points (0–100)
144	Indonesia	64.4points (0–100)
145	Malaysia	63.8points (0–100)
146	Nepal	63.8points (0–100)
147	Haiti	63.1points (0–100)
148	Cuba	60.6points (0–100)
149	Djibouti	60.6points (0–100)
150	Qatar	59.4points (0–100)
151	Morocco	57.5points (0–100)
152	Pakistan	56.9points (0–100)
153	Timor-Leste	56.9points (0–100)
154	Bosnia and Herzegovina	55.6points (0–100)
155	Oman	55.0points (0–100)
156	Iraq	53.1points (0–100)
157	Lebanon	51.9points (0–100)
158	Jordan	47.5points (0–100)
159	Saudi Arabia	47.5points (0–100)
160	Bahrain	46.9points (0–100)
161	Egypt	45.6points (0–100)
162	Cape Verde	44.4points (0–100)
163	Algeria	44.4points (0–100)
164	Brunei Darussalam	44.4points (0–100)
165	Syrian Arab Republic	39.4points (0–100)
166	Sudan	36.9points (0–100)
167	Libya	34.4points (0–100)
168	Islamic Republic of Iran	31.3points (0–100)
169	Yemen	30.0points (0–100)
170	Eritrea	26.9points (0–100)

Showing 170 of 170 countries

Topics

#statistic-of-the-day #ai-generated #gender #law #women #labor-market #rights #equality #institutions #World Bank #WBL

Data Source

This data comes from World Bank (2024).

View Original Source