The global gender gap closed by 68.1% as of 2022, with Canada helping to reduce it, according to the Global Gender Gap Report from the World Economic Forum (WEF). .“At the current rate of progress, it will take 132 years to reach full parity,” said WEF in a Wednesday press release. .“This represents a slight four-year improvement compared to the 2021 estimate (136 years to parity).”.The press release said North America leads all areas, having closed 76.9% of its gender gap. It said this population-weighted average score for North America indicates the number of years it will take to close the gap has dropped from 62 to 59 years. .The press release said the improvements stem from a slight increase in the gender gap score of the United States and a stable score from Canada. .Europe has the second-highest level of gender parity, standing at 76.6%. The continent has a 60-year wait to close the gap. .While no country achieved full gender parity, the press release said the top economies closed at least 80% of their gender gaps, with Iceland (90.8%) leading the global ranking. It said Iceland remains the one country to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap. .Other Scandinavian countries such as Finland (86%, 2nd), Norway (84.5%, 3rd) and Sweden (82.2%, 5th) made the top five. Other European countries such as Ireland (80.4%) and Germany (80.1%) came in 9th and 10th positions, respectively..Sub-Saharan African countries such as Rwanda (81.1%, 6th) and Namibia (80.7%, 8th) were on the list. One country from East Asia and the Pacific, New Zealand (84.1%, 4th), was on the list. .“The Global Gender Gap Report continues to aim to create a continuous assessment of gender disparities, support the case for closing gender gaps, encourage further research on policies and practices that are effective at promoting change, and promote public-private collaboration to close gender gaps,” said the WEF. .This report comes after Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Monday at least half of the cabinet ministers in her government will be women..“Women must be at the table in equal numbers whenever decisions are made about the future of our province,” said Notley. .“I am proud our NDP government always maintained gender parity in cabinet, the first in Alberta to do so.”
