Data for 1998

Gender Inequality Index, 1998

1998, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Gender Inequality Index, 1998 covers 107 countries. Pakistan is highest, at 0.778; Sweden is lowest, at 0.061. The middle country reads 0.440. Against 1997, 96 values changed (15 up, 81 down), 5 countries joined.

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Gender Inequality Index · Data for 1998

HighestPakistan

0.778

LowestSweden

0.061

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end. A higher value is the worse result.

107countries
1measure
1998the year it describes
101distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 3.0 IGOlicence

01UNDP Human Development Report Office’s rank

The table

Every country and every column of Gender Inequality Index, 1998, as published. The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own, as printed. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 107 countries · select a heading to sort

Gender Inequality Index, 1998: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	0.061
2	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0.078
3	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	0.089
4	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	0.093
5	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	0.095
6	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	0.099
7	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	0.133
8	SpainESPSouthern Europe	0.142
9	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	0.143
10	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	0.156
11	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	0.157
12	CanadaCANNorthern America	0.161
=13	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	0.165
=13	JapanJPNEastern Asia	0.165
15	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	0.171
=16	FranceFRAWestern Europe	0.189
=16	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	0.189
18	ItalyITASouthern Europe	0.191
19	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	0.198
20	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	0.199
=21	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	0.207
=21	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0.207
23	PolandPOLEastern Europe	0.211
24	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	0.216
25	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	0.224
26	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	0.240
27	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	0.243
28	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	0.244
29	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	0.245
30	IsraelISRWestern Asia	0.255
31	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	0.256
32	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	0.265
33	United StatesUSANorthern America	0.281
34	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	0.300
35	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0.323
36	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	0.325
37	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	0.328
38	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	0.329
39	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0.333
40	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	0.340
41	BahamasBHSCaribbean	0.356
42	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	0.361
43	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	0.366
44	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	0.383
45	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	0.394
46	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	0.400
47	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	0.404
48	UruguayURYSouth America	0.410
49	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	0.422
50	ArgentinaARGSouth America	0.425
51	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	0.430
52	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	0.436
53	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	0.439
=54	ChileCHLSouth America	0.440
=54	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	0.440
56	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	0.445
57	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	0.447
58	MexicoMEXCentral America	0.459
59	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	0.465
60	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	0.467
61	FijiFJIMelanesia	0.475
62	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	0.476
63	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	0.482
64	PanamaPANCentral America	0.496
65	EcuadorECUSouth America	0.498
66	BrazilBRASouth America	0.522
67	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	0.524
68	PeruPERSouth America	0.525
=69	BelizeBLZCentral America	0.527
=69	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	0.527
71	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	0.532
72	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	0.534
73	VenezuelaVENSouth America	0.537
74	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	0.540
75	HondurasHNDCentral America	0.549
76	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	0.559
77	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	0.566
78	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	0.568
79	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	0.573
80	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	0.577
=81	GabonGABMiddle Africa	0.579
=81	ParaguayPRYSouth America	0.579
83	IranIRNSouthern Asia	0.589
84	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	0.591
85	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	0.595
86	NicaraguaNICCentral America	0.599
87	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	0.604
88	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	0.612
89	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	0.617
90	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	0.621
91	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	0.627
92	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	0.633
93	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	0.642
94	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	0.647
95	BeninBENWestern Africa	0.652
96	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	0.659
97	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	0.682
98	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	0.687
99	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	0.692
100	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	0.694
101	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	0.698
102	IraqIRQWestern Asia	0.717
103	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	0.727
104	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	0.729
105	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	0.750
106	TongaTONPolynesia	0.769
107	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	0.778

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

#107Pakistan0.778
#106Tonga0.769
#105United Arab Emirates0.750
#104Sudan0.729
#103Morocco0.727

Lowest

#1Sweden0.061
#2Denmark0.078
#3Finland0.089
#4Netherlands0.093
#5Switzerland0.095

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 0.440. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+5 / −0countries joined / left
96values changed, of 102 in both
15 · 81rose · fell
6unchanged

Rose most

Cyprus0.307 → 0.323+0.016
Hungary0.288 → 0.300+0.012
Sudan0.723 → 0.729+0.006
Pakistan0.773 → 0.778+0.005
Belize0.523 → 0.527+0.004

Fell most

Ecuador0.590 → 0.498−0.092
Syria0.562 → 0.534−0.028
Chile0.465 → 0.440−0.025
Maldives0.548 → 0.524−0.024
Sri Lanka0.452 → 0.430−0.022

+ Burundi

+ China

+ Honduras

+ Laos

+ Malawi

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

One year of the 2025 release
Every year in this series comes from UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1998.
101 distinct values among 107
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.165. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s
Printed exactly as the publisher ranked the countries. This site does not re-rank them.
Which end is better
A higher value is the worse result.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 107 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
107 rows · 3.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download gender-inequality-1998-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own file, on its own site.
HDR25_Composite_indices_complete_time_series.csv

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO. The version of CC BY written for intergovernmental organisations. Credit the publisher and say what you changed.

Cite this edition

UNDP Human Development Report Office (1998). Gender Inequality Index, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/gender-inequality/1998

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Gender Inequality Index, 1997
102 countries
The year after ›
Gender Inequality Index, 1999
112 countries
All of them
Gender Inequality Index: every year
34 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions