Unadjusted gender gap in median earnings by country
The gender wage gap is unadjusted and is defined as the difference between median earnings of men and women relative to median earnings of men. Estimates refer to full-time employees and to self-employed workers.
What the numbers show
Unadjusted gender gap in median earnings is currently reported for 28 countries. The highest value is 36.7% in South Korea; the lowest is 3.3% in Belgium.
The median across all reporting countries is 15.3%, and the mean is 14.3%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 11.
Over the past decade 6 countries rose and 21 fell. The largest increase was in Colombia (up 753.8%), and the largest decrease in Belgium (down 72.0%).
Unadjusted gender gap in median earnings: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea | 36.7% | 2016 | down 7.8% | falling |
| 2 | Japan | 25.7% | 2015 | down 21.6% | falling |
| 3 | Israel | 21.8% | 2011 | down 22.4% | falling |
| 4 | Chile | 21.1% | 2015 | up 427.5% | volatile |
| 5 | Portugal | 18.9% | 2015 | up 18.1% | rising |
| 6 | Canada | 18.6% | 2015 | down 12.7% | falling |
| 7 | United States | 18.1% | 2016 | down 5.7% | falling |
| 7 | Finland | 18.1% | 2015 | down 4.2% | falling |
| 9 | Germany | 17.1% | 2014 | down 24.0% | falling |
| 10 | Austria | 17.0% | 2015 | down 22.7% | falling |
| 11 | Switzerland | 16.9% | 2014 | down 23.2% | falling |
| 12 | United Kingdom | 16.8% | 2016 | down 22.6% | falling |
| 13 | Mexico | 16.5% | 2016 | down 11.3% | falling |
| 14 | Czechia | 16.3% | 2016 | up 5.8% | falling |
| 16 | Australia | 14.3% | 2016 | down 14.4% | falling |
| 17 | Slovakia | 13.9% | 2016 | down 21.9% | falling |
| 18 | Sweden | 13.4% | 2013 | down 16.2% | falling |
| 19 | Colombia | 11.1% | 2015 | up 753.8% | volatile |
| 19 | Poland | 11.1% | 2014 | up 4.7% | falling |
| 21 | Iceland | 9.9% | 2015 | down 25.0% | falling |
| 22 | Hungary | 9.5% | 2015 | up 137.5% | volatile |
| 23 | Norway | 7.1% | 2015 | down 24.5% | falling |
| 24 | Greece | 6.2% | 2015 | down 62.9% | falling |
| 25 | New Zealand | 6.1% | 2014 | down 24.7% | falling |
| 26 | Denmark | 5.8% | 2015 | down 43.1% | falling |
| 27 | Italy | 5.6% | 2014 | down 16.4% | falling |
| 28 | Costa Rica | 3.7% | 2015 | — | volatile |
| 29 | Belgium | 3.3% | 2014 | down 72.0% | falling |
About this data
The gender wage gap is unadjusted and is defined as the difference between median earnings of men and women relative to median earnings of men. Estimates refer to full-time employees and to self-employed workers.