Netherlands Slips to 46th in Global Gender Gap Index
The country dropped three places, continuing a decline from previous years.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Photo: Depositphotos.com
Photograph: Dutch News (embedded from source)
What this story says
- The Netherlands has fallen to 46th place out of 145 countries in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index.
- This represents a drop of three places from the previous year, when the Netherlands was ranked 43rd.
- The index measures gender disparities across economic participation, education, health, and political influence.
- The Netherlands has closed 75% of its gender gap, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the prior year.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 5 of the 11 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
60/100
Hype
45/100
11 sources · methodology
The Netherlands has fallen to 46th place out of 145 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. The country dropped three places from the previous year, when it was ranked 43rd. This follows a 15-place drop in the year before that. The index measures the gap between men and women across four areas: economic participation, education, health, and political influence.
According to the University of Amsterdam team that compiled the Dutch data, the Netherlands has closed 75% of its gender gap. This figure is a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the previous year. While the gaps in education and health have been closed entirely, and the economic score has slightly improved, neighbouring countries are advancing more rapidly. The primary factor contributing to the Netherlands' lower ranking is politics, specifically the share of women in parliament, which rose slightly, while the number of women ministers fell. The country has never had a female prime minister.
Disagreement on previous year's ranking
Dutch News and NL Times report that the Netherlands was in 43rd place last year. Reformatorisch Dagblad states that last year the Netherlands climbed from 28th place. NOS reports that last year the Netherlands was in 43rd place.
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated reports mentioned the Netherlands' specific ranking in the political empowerment category, which NL Times reported as 38th with a 33% closed gap. The right-rated reports did not mention the specific percentage of the gender gap closed (75%) or the decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the previous year.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 17 Sept 2026, 13:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- Both centre-rated reports led with the Netherlands' fall to 46th place in the Global Gender Gap Index. Dutch News and NL Times both reported that the country dropped three places from 43rd the previous year, and that this followed a 15-place drop. Both outlets mentioned that the Netherlands has closed 75% of its gender gap, with Dutch News noting a 0.6 percentage point decrease from last year. They also both cited Henk Volberda, a professor at the University of Amsterdam, who commented that the Netherlands lags behind neighbouring countries. Dutch News quoted Volberda saying, “I thought we had hit rock bottom last year,” and highlighted politics as the main drag, noting a slight rise in women in parliament but a fall in women ministers. NL Times also mentioned the political empowerment score as the lowest, with the gap only 33% closed, and ranked the Netherlands 38th in this category. Both reports listed Iceland, Finland, Norway, Namibia, and the UK as the top-ranking countries.
Right
4 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports focused on the Netherlands' continued decline in the Global Gender Gap Index. BNR Nieuwsradio described the 46th place ranking as 'shameful' and noted the three-place drop from the previous year, which itself followed a fifteen-place fall. Dagelijksestandaard.nl, Nieuws.nl, and Welingelichtekringen.nl all used the headline 'The Gap Between Men and Women Is Widening' and reported the Netherlands slipping down the rankings. Reformatorisch Dagblad reported that State Secretary Judith Tielen is 'not happy' about the declining figures and mentioned the drop from 43rd to 46th place, adding that the Netherlands had climbed from 28th place last year. NOS reported the drop to 46th place from 43rd, noting that the country also dropped fifteen places last year and that the emancipation of women has virtually come to a standstill.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Netherlands Slips to 46th in Global Gender Gap Index?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 67% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 11. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Netherlands Slips to 46th in Global Gender Gap Index left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Netherlands Slips to 46th in Global Gender Gap Index biased?
- Netherlands Slips to 46th in Global Gender Gap Index is one event reported by 11 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which outlets covered Netherlands Slips to 46th in Global Gender Gap Index?
- 11 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is the Netherlands' ranking in the Global Gender Gap Index?
- The Netherlands has fallen to 46th place out of 145 countries in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index. This is a drop of three places from the previous year.
- How has the Netherlands' gender gap changed?
- The Netherlands has closed 75% of its gender gap, which is a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from last year. While education and health gaps are closed, progress in economic participation and political influence is slower than in other countries.
- Which countries rank higher than the Netherlands?
- Iceland tops the ranking, followed by Finland, Norway, Namibia, and the United Kingdom. Germany ranks ninth and Belgium 33rd. The Netherlands is ranked 46th, placing it below countries like Liberia according to one unrated report.
Read it at the source
11 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
2Right
4- Tielen ‘Not Happy’ with Declining Emancipation Figures (opens Reformatorisch Dagblad in a new tab)
Reformatorisch Dagblad — is Reformatorisch Dagblad biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Gap Between Men and Women Is Widening. (opens dagelijksestandaard.nl in a new tab)
dagelijksestandaard.nl — is dagelijksestandaard.nl biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Netherlands Drops Again in Gender Equality Ranking: ‘46th Place Is Shameful’ (opens BNR Nieuwsradio in a new tab)
BNR Nieuwsradio — is BNR Nieuwsradio biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- The Netherlands Slips Further Down the Global Ranking for Gender Equality (opens NOS in a new tab)
Not rated
5- Gender Equality: The Netherlands Slips Further to 46th Place (opens tpo.nl in a new tab)
- GeenStijl: 'NL Drops Further on WEF Gender Equality Ranking, Ranks #46 Below LIBERIA' (opens geenstijl.nl in a new tab)
geenstijl.nl — is geenstijl.nl biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Netherlands Drops Again in the Gender Equality Ranking: ‘At This Rate, the Gap Between Men and Women Will Not Be Closed Until 2146.’ (opens gelderlander.nl in a new tab)
gelderlander.nl — is gelderlander.nl biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Gap Between Men and Women Is Widening. (opens welingelichtekringen.nl in a new tab)
welingelichtekringen.nl — is welingelichtekringen.nl biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Gap Between Men and Women Is Widening. (opens Nieuws.nl in a new tab)
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