(15.04.2026) Progress for women in the Swiss labor market remains limited. The country rose from 21st to 20th place in the international ranking of the "Women in Work Index 2026" published by PwC, but its overall score remains unchanged at 68.7 points.
The female labor force participation rate stood at 80.8% in 2025, a slight increase compared with the previous year (80.4%). The female unemployment rate also remains relatively stable at 4.7%. By contrast, the proportion of women in full-time work declined by 1.5 percentage points between 2024 and 2025, falling from 60.7% to 59.2%. The gender pay gap also widened slightly (+0.2 percentage points to 17.4%) and remains significantly higher than the OECD average (12.4%).
The Women in Work Index has also slowed across all countries assessed. It increased by only 0.5 percentage points between 2023 and 2024, which is half the annual average recorded since 2011 (1 point). The female unemployment rate across OECD countries rose by 0.2 percentage points to 5.5%. For the first time since the beginning of the assessment, the proportion of women in full-time work declined, from 78.1% to 76.8%.
Iceland retains first place in the ranking for the fifth consecutive year, with a female participation rate of 85.1%, which is 12 percentage points higher than the OECD average (73.1%). Generous parental leave, high-quality childcare services, and a family-friendly work culture (for example, a four-day workweek) contribute to this performance. Luxembourg, New Zealand, Slovenia, and Sweden follow at the top, while Mexico, South Korea, Chile, Italy, and Greece rank last.
Published since 2011, the "PwC Women in Work Index" measures gender equality in the labor market across 33 OECD countries based on five key indicators: participation rate, gender participation gap, female unemployment rate, proportion of full-time work, and pay gap.
Last modification 15.04.2026
