Equality Index for Gender 2019

Equality Index for Gender 2019

The latest findings from the Gender Balance Index (GBI) reveal a modest but slow progress towards gender parity within central banks, sovereign funds, and public pension funds. This trend mirrors broader global patterns found in recent reports on gender equality.

Key findings include:

• The Global Gender Gap Report 2025 highlights a global gender gap closure of only 68.8%, with full gender equality projected to be more than 120 years away at current progress rates. This report measures various aspects such as economic participation, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health, and underscores persistent gender gaps in high-level institutional leadership, including financial public institutions.
• Within the public financial sector, women's representation remains uneven. Central banks and sovereign funds tend to be dominated by men, though there are emerging efforts to increase female appointments. However, detailed sector-specific gender balance data in institutions like sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds are still limited and require more transparency to assess trends precisely.
• The World Economic Forum and related indices reveal that gender parity in senior government, economic, and financial roles progresses more slowly than in some sectors. As of 2025, there are only 26 female heads of states or governments globally, indicating that leadership positions, including in public financial institutions, still face significant gender imbalance.
• Legal and policy frameworks aimed at removing barriers for women's participation in finance and economic decision-making are positively correlated with increased female financial inclusion and leadership. However, social norms and implementation gaps counteract some legal gains, impacting women’s representation in public financial institutions where cultural and institutional inertia is strong.
• International organizations and development banks, such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), are actively promoting gender-responsive investments and leadership within finance sectors. They are pushing the agenda for gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in public financial institutions through targeted initiatives and gender lens investing.
• In the GBI 2019 report, European public pension funds scored 41%, the highest overall score. Asia has the lowest regional central bank GBI index score at 9%. Out of 173 central banks globally, only 14 are headed by women. Thirty-five central banks have no women in senior positions. Europe is the highest-scoring region with a GBI score of 38%, a three-percentage-point improvement. North America is the most improved region with a GBI score of 36%, an 11-percentage-point increase.
• The global average Gender Balance Index score for central banks in 2019 is 25%, a six-percentage-point increase from 2018. Sovereign funds score 17%, with only eight funds headed by women. Poor diversity in many sovereign and public pension funds hampers ESG investment.
• The study of the Gender Balance Index is conducted annually and serves as a call to action, drawing attention to the disappointing picture of gender diversity in public financial institutions. The GBI 2019 report is available for complimentary download.

Despite some focused initiatives and increased global attention on gender parity, the gender balance index for the global public financial sector displays slow improvement, with persisting significant underrepresentation of women in leadership roles in central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and public pension funds. The trend aligns with broader economic sectors but highlights an urgent need for new policies, transparency, and implementation measures to speed progress.

1. The Global Gender Gap Report 2025 indicates that full gender equality in economic participation, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health is over 120 years away at the current progress rates, with women's representation in high-level institutional leadership, including financial public institutions, remaining persistently uneven.
2. Within the public financial sector, central banks and sovereign funds are predominantly male-dominated, but there are emerging efforts to increase female appointments, with the need for more transparency to assess trends accurately.
3. The World Economic Forum shows that gender parity in senior government, economic, and financial roles progresses more slowly than in some sectors, with only 26 female heads of states or governments globally, indicating that leadership positions in public financial institutions still face significant gender imbalance.
4. Legal and policy frameworks can help remove barriers for women's participation in finance and economic decision-making, yet social norms and implementation gaps limit their effectiveness, particularly in public financial institutions where cultural and institutional inertia is strong.
5. International organizations such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) are actively promoting gender-responsive investments and leadership in finance sectors to drive gender equality and women's economic empowerment in public financial institutions.
6. The 2019 Gender Balance Index (GBI) report reveals that the global average GBI score for central banks is 25%, with a six-percentage-point improvement from 2018, underscoring the urgent need for new policies, transparency, and implementation measures to accelerate gender diversity in public financial institutions.

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