Gender Equality Index

The Gender Equality Index is a tool to measure the progress of gender equality in several areas of economic and social life in the EU and its Member States, developed by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).^[1] These areas are summarised into a hierarchical structure of domains and sub-domains. The Index consists of 31 indicators and ranges from 1 to 100, with 100 representing a gender-equal society. The aim of the Index is to support evidence-based and informed decision-making in the EU and to track progress and setbacks in gender equality since 2005. Additionally, it helps to understand where improvements are most needed and thus supports policymakers in designing more effective gender equality measures.

The EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 acknowledges the Index as a key benchmark for gender equality in the EU and sets out its intention to introduce annual monitoring of gender equality, building on the Gender Equality Index.

The first Gender Equality Index was published in 2013, followed by 2015 and 2017. Since 2019 the Index is published annually and contains two parts. While the first part displays the scores of the domains, the second part has a different dedicated thematic focus each year. Apart from the Gender Equality Index report, EIGE also publishes country factsheets with dedicated analyses of scores and indicators for every EU Member State.^[2]