Denmark in 2023 edition
The data for 2023 Index is mostly from 2021 and 2022.
The Gender Equality Index gives the EU and the Member States a score from 1 to 100. A score of 100 would mean that a country had reached full equality between women and men.
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Progress in gender equality
With 77.8 points out of 100, Denmark ranks 3rd in the EU on the Gender Equality Index. Its score is 7.6 points above the score for the EU as a whole.1
Since 2010, Denmark’s score has increased by 2.6 points, mainly due to improvements in the domains of power (+ 15.9 points) and money (+ 5.9 points). Since 2020, Denmark’s overall score has remained unchanged. While the country has registered an improvement in the domain of power (+ 4.6 points), progress in the domain of knowledge has stalled (– 0.1 points), and has regressed in the domain of time (– 10.4 points). Due to other Member States making faster progress, Denmark has slipped from 2nd to 3rd place since the last edition of Index.
Best performance
Denmark’s highest ranking (2nd among all Member States) is in the domain of work, in which it scores 82.1 points. The country has consistently ranked 2nd in this domain since 2010. Within this domain, the country scores highest in the sub-domain of participation in work (89.9 points), ranking 6th among the Member States (+ 1.5 points since 2020). In the sub-domain of segregation and quality of work, Denmark ranked 3rd in 2021, a rise of 3.5 points and two places since 2020.
Most room for improvement
The domain in which Denmark has the most room for improvement is that of health, in which the country scored 88.6 points, placing it 10th in the EU. Since 2020, Denmark’s score for the domain of health has decreased slightly (– 0.9 points), resulting in a drop of one place in the ranking. The country has experienced the most significant decline in the domain of health out of all Member States since 2020. In this domain, decreases in the scores for the sub-domains of health status and health access have driven Denmark’s score down (– 1.6 and – 1.4 points, respectively). Denmark’s ranking has dropped by three places in both of these sub-domains.
Biggest improvement
Since the last Index edition, Denmark’s biggest improvement has been in the domain of power (+ 4.6 points), improving its ranking from 5th place to 4th. The country has made a steady improvement in the domain of economic decision-making (+ 9.3 points), improving its ranking by five places to 6th place. Since 2020, Denmark’s scores also improved in the sub-domains of political and social decision-making (+ 2.0 and + 1.8 points, respectively).
A step backwards
Since 2020, the largest decline in Denmark’s score has been in the domain of time (– 10.4 points). During this time, the sub-domains of social activities and care activities have seen decreases of 16.1 points and 3.7 points, respectively. In the sub-domain of care activities, Denmark has fallen six places in the ranking, and currently stands in 9th place. Since the previous edition of the Index, Denmark’s progress in the domain of knowledge has stalled (– 0.1 points). Consequently, the country’s ranking has fallen from 3rd place to 7th in this domain.
Convergence
Upward convergence in gender equality describes increasing equality between women and men in the EU, accompanied by a decline in variations between Member States. This means that countries with lower levels of gender equality are catching up with those with the highest levels, thereby reducing disparities across the EU. Analysis of convergence patterns in the Gender Equality Index shows that disparities between Member States decreased over the period 2010–2021, and that EU countries continue their trend of upward convergence.
Looking more closely at the performance of each Member State, patterns can be identified that reflect a relative improvement or slipping back in the Gender Equality Index score of each Member State in relation to the EU average.
Denmark is flattening. Its Gender Equality Index score is higher than the EU average, but has grown at a slower pace over time. The gap between the country and the EU average narrowed over time.
Focus 2023: The European Green Deal
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Women and men in Denmark are less likely than the EU average to choose environmental options
In 2022, 35 % of women and 37 % of men in Denmark reported regularly avoiding plastic and/or single-use products, which is lower than the corresponding shares across the EU (49 % and 42 %, respectively). Similarly, fewer women and men in Denmark (36 % and 33 %, respectively) reported walking as one of their three main means of transport compared the EU as a whole (46 % and 43 %, respectively).
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Even before the current energy crisis, non-EU migrant women and men and people with disabilities in Denmark were struggling
Even before the full impact of the ongoing energy crisis was felt, women and men in Denmark were facing challenges in paying their energy and heating bills. In 2021, 8 % of non-EU migrant women and 10 % of non-EU migrant men reported being unable to keep their homes adequately warm. In the same year, 6 % of women and 7 % of men with disabilities struggled to keep their homes sufficiently warm. These figures are likely to have risen significantly with the ongoing energy crisis.
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Women in Denmark are underrepresented in decision-making positions
In 2022, women in Denmark made up just 15 % of those employed as senior administrators in national ministries dealing with the environment and climate change. This was considerably lower than the EU average of 44 % of women in such decision-making positions.