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Photo: ymea derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 08 of 18 · Country Index 2026
How wide is the gap between women's and men's lives?
Cameroon is placed 141st of 183 countries on gender & equality in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Women, Business and the Law 60 (2024); Women's Political Empowerment Index 0.76 (2025).
Gender & Equality
141st
of 183 countries placed
Placed from 4 of 4 key statistics
01The evidence
Only these place Cameroon on gender & equality — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 4
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: The gap written into the statute book, which a country can close while outcomes lag for a generation.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
60
WBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity)
Higher is better
Cameroon: 60. Across the 190 countries in this edition, values run from 26.25 (Palestine) to 100 (Sweden); the world median is 81.25.
Each grey tick is one of 190 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 2 of 4
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
Why it is a key: Political power held by women in practice — their civil liberties, their part in civil society and their share of political office — where the law and custom keys measure the rules they live under.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
0.76
Women's political empowerment index (0–1)
Higher is better
Cameroon: 0.76. Across the 176 countries in this edition, values run from 0.028 (Afghanistan) to 0.954 (Denmark); the world median is 0.772.
Each grey tick is one of 176 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 3 of 4
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: The share of firms whose top manager is a woman: economic power held, beside the political power and the legal and social rules the other keys in this subject measure.
Latest reading per country, 2016–2025 · Cameroon’s is from 2024 · CC BY 4.0
21.18
Firms with a female top manager (%)
Higher is better
Cameroon: 21.18. Across the 179 countries at their latest reading, values run from 1.429 (Qatar) to 62.9 (Kiribati); the world median is 19.16.
Each grey tick is one of 179 countries at its latest reading, 2016–2025.
Key 4 of 4
OECD
Why it is a key: Discrimination in social institutions and norms. Correlates 0.850 with Women, Business and the Law, inside the 0.92 bar, and kept because law and custom diverge widely.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · OECD Terms and Conditions — data clause
66.9
SIGI score (0 = no discrimination, 100 = absolute)
Lower is better
Cameroon: 66.9. Across the 140 countries in this edition, values run from 6.7 (Norway) to 67.4 (Mauritania); the world median is 25.2.
Each grey tick is one of 140 countries in the 2023 edition.
02Over time
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
WBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity) · higher is better
CameroonWorld median
Cameroon rose from 50.63 in 2000 to 60 in 2024; the world median went from 62.19 to 81.25.
| Year | Cameroon | World median |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 60 | 81.3 |
| 2023 | 60 | 80.3 |
| 2022 | 60 | 80.0 |
| 2021 | 60 | 79.7 |
| 2020 | 60 | 78.8 |
| 2019 | 60 | 77.5 |
| 2018 | 60 | 77.5 |
| 2017 | 51 | 76.9 |
| 2016 | 51 | 75.9 |
| 2015 | 51 | 75.6 |
| 2014 | 51 | 75.0 |
| 2013 | 51 | 73.8 |
| 2012 | 51 | 73.1 |
| 2011 | 51 | 73.1 |
| 2010 | 51 | 72.5 |
| 2009 | 51 | 71.3 |
| 2008 | 51 | 69.7 |
| 2007 | 51 | 68.8 |
| 2006 | 51 | 67.2 |
| 2005 | 51 | 66.9 |
| 2004 | 51 | 64.7 |
| 2003 | 51 | 63.8 |
| 2002 | 51 | 63.8 |
| 2001 | 51 | 63.1 |
| 2000 | 51 | 62.2 |
Women's political empowerment index (0–1) · higher is better
CameroonWorld median
Cameroon rose from 0.661 in 2000 to 0.76 in 2025; the world median went from 0.681 to 0.772.
| Year | Cameroon | World median |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.760 | 0.7715 |
| 2024 | 0.793 | 0.7745 |
| 2023 | 0.789 | 0.7755 |
| 2022 | 0.786 | 0.7825 |
| 2021 | 0.783 | 0.7785 |
| 2020 | 0.777 | 0.7755 |
| 2019 | 0.756 | 0.7665 |
| 2018 | 0.748 | 0.7715 |
| 2017 | 0.751 | 0.7710 |
| 2016 | 0.767 | 0.7780 |
| 2015 | 0.786 | 0.7755 |
| 2014 | 0.782 | 0.7795 |
| 2013 | 0.784 | 0.7730 |
| 2012 | 0.747 | 0.7740 |
| 2011 | 0.744 | 0.7650 |
| 2010 | 0.746 | 0.7610 |
| 2009 | 0.719 | 0.7515 |
| 2008 | 0.725 | 0.7505 |
| 2007 | 0.723 | 0.7380 |
| 2006 | 0.696 | 0.7290 |
| 2005 | 0.700 | 0.7350 |
| 2004 | 0.700 | 0.7205 |
| 2003 | 0.700 | 0.7160 |
| 2002 | 0.700 | 0.7150 |
| 2001 | 0.680 | 0.6950 |
| 2000 | 0.661 | 0.6810 |
03In context
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 183 countries on gender & equality, never a place within the region.
The standing is each country’s place among all 183 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Women, Business and the LawWBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity) | Women's Political Empowerment IndexWomen's political empowerment index (0–1) | Firms with a Female Top ManagerFirms with a female top manager (%) | Social Institutions and Gender IndexSIGI score (0 = no discrimination, 100 = absolute) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74th | 95 | 0.798 | 19.18 | 28.3 | |
| 140th | 66.25 | 0.732 | 14.27 | 39.5 | |
| 141st | 60 | 0.76 | 21.18 | 66.9 | |
| 146th | 58.13 | 0.466 | 19.35 | — | |
| 148th | 77.5 | 0.556 | 10.22 | 48.7 | |
| 154th | 66.25 | 0.625 | 8.513 | 45 | |
| 165th | 58.13 | 0.449 | 8.1 | — |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 183.
The countries immediately above and below Cameroon in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
8 more statistics filed under gender & equality, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Statistics on which Cameroon does better than the middle country measured.
Cameroon: 1.4 · world median 34.1 · Women aged 15-49 who have undergone FGM (%). UNICEF, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.3 to 99.2; lower is better.
Cameroon: 56.59 · world median 53.36 · Women aged 15+ in the labour force (%). International Labour Organization (ILO), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 4.663 to 82.91; higher is better.
Position 70th of 182 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Statistics on which Cameroon does worse than the middle country measured.
Cameroon: 29.8 · world median 17.1 · Women 20–24 married before 18 (%). UNICEF, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 76.3; lower is better.
Position 30th of 143 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Cameroon: 0.898 · world median 0.971 · Gender Development Index (1.000 = parity). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.407 to 1.038; higher is better.
Position 155th of 184 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Cameroon: 258.23 · world median 46.65 · Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.11 to 992.83; lower is better.
Position 28th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Cameroon: 0.558 · world median 0.351 · GII (0 = full equality, 1 = maximum inequality). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.003 to 0.838; lower is better.
Ranked 148th of 172 by UNDP Human Development Report Office.
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Cameroon: 21.79 · world median 38.17 · Researchers who are women (% of headcount; 50 = parity). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 76.54.
Cameroon: 103 · world median 105.1 · Male births per 100 female births. UN DESA Population Division, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 101.1 to 116.3.
No current reading for Cameroon
Births Attended by Skilled Health Staff (last 2018), Female Share of Senior and Middle Management and Gender Social Norms Index. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Gender & Equality is Cameroon’s 7th best-placed topic of 16. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
06The top of the list
The three countries placed highest of 183, and the leaders Cameroon can most readily be measured against.
1Latvia
Northern Europe
1st of 183 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Marcin Szala · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Taiwan
Eastern Asia
2nd of 183 · 3 of 4 keys
Photo: xiangyang17 · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3Italy
Southern Europe
3rd of 183 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Francisco Antunes · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
Highest in Africa
Highest in Middle Africa
This page
Positions out of 183 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Questions
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
Cameroon is placed 141st of 183 countries on Gender & Equality in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics (Women, Business and the Law, Women's Political Empowerment Index, Firms with a Female Top Manager and Social Institutions and Gender Index). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
60 in 2024 (wBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 81.25.
0.76 in 2025 (women's political empowerment index (0–1)), according to V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg. The world median in the same edition was 0.772.
Nigeria is placed 140th of 183, and Cameroon 141st. Women, Business and the Law: Nigeria 66.25, Cameroon 60; Women's Political Empowerment Index: Nigeria 0.732, Cameroon 0.76; Firms with a Female Top Manager: Nigeria 14.27, Cameroon 21.18; Social Institutions and Gender Index: Nigeria 39.5, Cameroon 66.9.
Women, Business and the Law rose from 50.63 in 2000 to 60 in 2024; Women's Political Empowerment Index rose from 0.661 in 2000 to 0.76 in 2025.
No current reading is published for Cameroon on Births Attended by Skilled Health Staff, Female Share of Senior and Middle Management and Gender Social Norms Index. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
08Keep reading
09Method
What this topic does not measure
Violence against women is not a key here, because comparable data covers too few countries. The Gender Inequality Index is published here as context rather than as a key: its reading is driven largely by maternal and adolescent health, which moves with a country’s overall development and is already measured under Development and Health. Women’s labour force participation, women in management and child marriage are published here as context too.
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
The other 8 statistics on this page come from 6 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Cameroon’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
Nations Inquiry (2026). Cameroon: Gender & Equality — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/cameroon/gender