Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are among the countries in the world with the strongest overall conditions for women in the latest global assessment of women’s wellbeing, security, and rights.
The 2025/26 Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index, produced by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security in collaboration with the Peace Research Institute Oslo, ranks 181 countries and economies based on 13 indicators covering women’s inclusion, justice and security.
The index considers issues such as women’s access to education and employment, financial inclusion, political representation, legal discrimination, access to justice, maternal health, intimate partner violence, community safety, political violence, and exposure to conflict.
Based on the latest index, the countries at the top are largely in Europe, with New Zealand also appearing among the 10 highest-ranked countries.
Top 10 Countries for Women in 2025/26
| Rank | Country | WPS Index Score |
| 1 | Denmark | 0.939 |
| 2 | Iceland | 0.932 |
| 3 | Norway | 0.924 |
| 3 | Sweden | 0.924 |
| 5 | Finland | 0.921 |
| 6 | Luxembourg | 0.918 |
| 7 | Belgium | 0.912 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 0.905 |
| 9 | Austria | 0.898 |
| 9 | New Zealand | 0.898 |
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- Denmark
Denmark ranks first out of 181 countries in the 2025/26 WPS Index, with a score of 0.939.
Its overall score reflects performance across the three dimensions used by the index: inclusion, justice and security.
Denmark records full scores on several indicators, including women’s financial inclusion and cellphone use, while women’s parliamentary representation stands at 43.6 percent in the data used for the latest index.
The country also records a community safety score of 85 percent, meaning 85 percent of women surveyed reported feeling safe walking alone at night in their community.
- Iceland
Iceland ranks second in the world with a score of 0.932.
The country records the highest level of women’s employment among the top-ranked countries, with 83.7 percent of women aged 25 to 64 employed according to the data used by the index.
Women also hold 46 percent of parliamentary seats in Iceland, the highest figure among the countries in the top 10.
Iceland receives a full score for women’s financial inclusion and cellphone use, while its overall position places it among the countries with the strongest combination of inclusion, justice and security.
- Norway
Norway is tied for third place with Sweden, scoring 0.924.
The country performs strongly across the index’s three dimensions and records full scores for women’s financial inclusion and cellphone use.
Norway also records a high level of women’s employment and has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates among the countries assessed.
The index places Norway among the countries where women have relatively strong access to economic opportunities, legal protections, and security.
- Sweden
Sweden shares third place in the world with Norway.
The country scores 0.924 and performs strongly on several measures of women’s inclusion.
All women included in the relevant data have access to a financial account or mobile money service, and women’s cellphone use is also 100 percent.
Sweden’s overall score places it among the countries with the strongest conditions for women globally according to the WPS Index.
- Finland
The country records strong results in women’s financial inclusion, political representation, and legal protection.
The index also measures intimate partner violence as part of its security dimension. Finland’s reported rate in the index is higher than that of several other countries near the top of the table, showing why the overall ranking cannot be interpreted as meaning that women face no safety risks in these countries.
- Luxembourg
Luxembourg scored 0.918 in the latest WPS Index, earning perfect marks for women’s financial inclusion and mobile phone access.
Strong results across the areas of inclusion, justice, and security place the country among the world’s highest-ranked nations for women’s well-being.
- Belgium
The country performs strongly across the indicators used to assess women’s status, including inclusion and justice.
Belgium’s position also reflects its performance on security-related indicators, which include community safety, intimate partner violence, political violence targeting women, and proximity to armed conflict.
- 8. Netherlands
The Netherlands ranks eighth in the world with a score of 0.905.
The country records a high women’s employment rate of 79.5 percent and full scores for financial inclusion and cellphone use.
The Netherlands also scores strongly on women’s parliamentary representation and access to justice, contributing to its position among the highest-ranked countries in the index.
- Austria
Austria ranks ninth, tied with New Zealand, with a score of 0.898.
The country records full scores for women’s financial inclusion and cellphone use and performs strongly on several justice and security indicators.
Austria also records no political violence targeting women in the 2024 data used for the index and has no women living within 50 kilometres of conflict according to the measure used.
- New Zealand
New Zealand also ranks ninth with a score of 0.898.
It is one of the two countries outside Europe in the top 10, alongside Australia, just outside the top group.
New Zealand’s position reflects its performance across the index’s inclusion, justice, and security measures rather than safety based solely on crime statistics.
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What Makes a Country Safe for Women?
The WPS Index takes a broader approach to women’s safety than simply looking at crime levels.
Its inclusion indicators cover women’s education, employment, financial inclusion, cellphone use, and representation in parliament.
The justice category looks at factors such as laws that discriminate against women, access to justice, maternal mortality rates, and preference for sons over daughters.
The security category measures issues including violence by intimate partners, how safe women feel in their communities, violence targeting women in politics, and how close they live to armed conflict.
This means a country can perform strongly overall while still having challenges in particular areas.
For example, community safety is measured by the proportion of women who say they feel safe walking alone at night where they live. The global average for this measure is 66.3 percent in the latest index.
Nordic Countries Dominate the Top
Denmark leads the table, followed by Iceland, while Norway and Sweden share third place. Finland is fifth.
The concentration of Nordic countries near the top reflects their relatively strong performance across several dimensions of women’s inclusion, justice, and security.
However, the ranking does not measure whether women can walk safely on the streets; it incorporates social, economic, legal, and political conditions that influence women’s lives.
Australia and Estonia Also Rank Highly
Australia and Estonia both score 0.896, placing them just outside the top 10.
Australia ranks 11th, while Estonia ranks 12th in the latest assessment. Both are part of the top group of countries the WPS Index identifies as having strong overall conditions for women.
The top group also includes countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Canada and several other European nations.
Global Progress Has Stalled
Despite the strong performance of countries at the top of the table, the WPS Index says global progress on women’s status has largely stalled since the index began tracking countries in 2017.
According to the report, approximately 676 million women were exposed to conflict in 2024, representing a 74 percent increase from 2010.
The report notes that conflict affects women through several channels, including violence, disruption to livelihoods, education, and healthcare.
The WPS Index measures women’s overall well-being and status, not a list of countries with the lowest crime rates.
It uses data from organizations including United Nations agencies, the World Bank, Gallup World Poll, and other international research institutions and the index combines the 13 indicators into a score ranging from 0 to 1,
The organization also cautions that the data do not always capture the most recent developments because international data collection can lag behind rapidly changing events.
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