“Europe has made fragile gains in gender equality. But big losses are emerging as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic fallout is lasting longer for women, while life expectancy for men has dropped. Our Index findings can help Europe’s leaders tackle the different effects of the pandemic on women and men and alleviate the unequal short and long-term impact,” said Carlien Scheele, EIGE’s Director.

The EU scores 68 points out of 100 in the Gender Equality Index, released today by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). This is a microscopic increase of just 0.6 points since last year’s edition.

Sweden and Denmark are again the top performers in this year’s Index, followed by the Netherlands, which jumped over Finland and France to claim third place. Luxembourg, Lithuania, and the Netherlands have improved the most since last year’s edition. Slovenia was the only country that went backwards. There are big variations in gender equality scores between countries. They range from 83.9 points in Sweden to 52.6 points in Greece.

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