Finland ranks eighth in EU Gender Equality Index
Finland has ranked eighth in the Gender Equality Index for the European Union (EU). The position is the same as last year. The Index measures gender equality in various domains, such as work, health and power.
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) released its latest Index measuring gender equality on 10 December. The Index measures gender equality in six core domains: power, knowledge, work, health, money and time. The Index consists of 31 indicators. Most of the data included in this year’s Index is from 2022, that is, from the past government term.
The overall Gender Equality Index score for the EU is now 71 out of 100, with 100 standing for full equality. This is 0.8 points higher than in the previous Index. The rise was much smaller than last year when the Index rose by 1.6 points.
Sweden ranked the highest with 82 points, followed by Denmark and the Netherlands with 78.8 points. Spain ranked fourth with 76.7 points, Belgium and France were fifth, both with 76.1 points, and Luxembourg was seventh with 75.4 points.
Finland ranked eighth with 74.5 points. The score rose by 0.1 points from last year but the progress was the fourth slowest in the EU, together with Belgium. The scores of Sweden, Bulgaria and Croatia fell.
Together with Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden, Finland is classified as a country where the growth is levelling off, which means that the score is above the EU average but the growth rate is below the average.
Women’s share in politics is among the highest in the EU
Finland’s points rose in the domains of work and power. The biggest rise was in the domain of power, where Finland ranks fifth in the EU. The points rose the most in the subdomain of social power, which measures the share of women and men of the board members of research funding organisations, Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE and the National Olympic Committee.
Women’s share in politics is among the highest in the EU. Of the Finnish Members of Parliament 47% are women. About 60% of the present Government ministers are women. This is the highest figure during Finland’s history.
Finland’s points were the lowest in the domain of knowledge, where the points for the level of education and participation decreased. The main reason the decrease is educational segregation. In 2022, 38% of women and 9% of men were employed in the education, healthcare and social welfare sectors. The difference between genders is among the biggest in the EU.
“Finland has a strong history and identity as a trailblazer in equality, but the scores show that this is not self-evident. Finland is particularly weak when it comes to educational and working-life segregation. Fixing this requires deep changes in the attitudes and long-term efforts for equality, which must start in early childhood education and care. In the domain of power the position of Finnish women has improved in recent years,” says Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Minister of Social Security who is also responsible for gender equality issues.
The release of the Gender Equality Index usually includes a supplementary report on a thematic focus. This time the thematic focus is on violence against women, and a separate report on this will be published in the beginning of 2025.
“In the equality policy of Prime Minister Orpo’s Government the key focus is on combating violence against women. This is the black spot in terms of gender equality in Finland. The thematic focus report on violence to be released early next year will give us important further information on this,” Minister Grahn-Laasonen says.
Gender Equality Index
The Gender Equality Index can be used to compare changes in gender equality between EU countries at different times. It has been published since 2013. The Index measures the difference between the situation of women and men, and the overall level of gender equality. The Index provides information on challenges and positive developments related to gender equality, also for decision-making purposes.
- Gender Equality Index 2024 Link to an external website(European Union)
- Gender Equality Index 2024Link to an external website (Finland)
- EIGE’s news item about the Index Link to an external website
Inquiries
Terhi Heinilä, Director, tel. +358 295 163 003, firstname.lastname@gov.fi
Anttoni Saarinen, Specialist, tel. +358 295 163 553, firstname.lastname@gov.fi
Niilo Heinonen, Special Adviser to the minister responsible for gender equality issues, tel. +358 295 163 603, firstname.lastname@gov.fi