PETALING JAYA: Malaysia ranked 114th out of 146 countries benchmarked in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Gender Gap Index, down 12 places from last year.
By comparison, Indonesia fell 13 places to 100, and the Philippines fell nine to 25.
Thailand, however, managed to climb up the list by nine places to the 65th position.
The 2024 report, published on June 11, studied the current state of gender parity in four categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
In the same report, Malaysia is ranked first, along with 27 other countries, for gender equality in educational attainment. However, it ranked 80th for health and survival.
Regarding gender equality in economic participation and opportunity, Malaysia ranks 102nd. It ranks above the global average for labour-force participation rate, wage equality for similar work, and estimated earned income but below the global average for legislators, senior officials and managers and Professional and technical workers.
The report added that although women occupy nearly half of entry-level positions, only 21% have filled the board seats.
Malaysia is also ranked 134th for gender equality in political empowerment.
Under this category, Malaysia ranked 122nd for women in parliament and 129th for women in ministerial positions subcategories.
The index also compared the gender gap of 16 countries across East Asia and the Pacific region. New Zealand and Australia top the list, and Malaysia is ranked 14th, ahead of Japan and Fiji.
Globally, Iceland maintained its first rank in the list from last year, while Finland and Norway came in second and third, respectively.
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