Gender gap index in South Africa 2016-2024
In 2024, South Africa had an overall gender gap index score of 0.79, placing it 18th out of 146 countries. During the period under review, gender disparity diminished slightly. The index measures the discrepancy between genders in four different areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
High gender equality in education and health
In terms of educational attainment, and health and survival, people in South Africa are more equal in gender. In 2022, the country reached gender parity in educational attainment, while it scored 0.98 points in health and survival. In absolute numbers, the count of boys studying in schools was almost 6.8 million, which was higher than the 6.6 million girls enrolled in ordinary schools. However, for individuals up to the age of 19, there were more boys than girls. In 2021, 18.6 percent of the total population were young men compared to 18.1 percent of young women. Moreover, life expectancy for women was higher than that of men by almost seven years.
Visible gender disparity in politics and economic participation
Gender disparity in South Africa is highest in political empowerment, followed by economic participation and opportunity. Although women in the country secured around 46 percent of the seats in the National Assembly, they were still under-represented in decision-making occupations. For example, men had higher chances of becoming an employer or landing a job as a manager. In the third quarter of 2024, men occupied around 67 percent of the total managerial roles in the country. Similarly, of 806,000 employers, 700,000 were men. Furthermore, some 43 percent of South African men worked in 2023 compared to only 32.1 percent of women.
