Ireland moves up six places in Women in Work Index driven by improvements in the gender pay gap 

Ireland now in 11th position among member nations of the OECD in latest survey

This is the 15th year of the index, which tracks the progress of women in the workplace across 33 OECD countries using five indicators covering pay, participation, unemployment and full‑time employment for women.

Ireland rose six places to 11th position among member nations of the OECD in the latest Women in Work Index by professional services firm PwC, driven by a decrease in the country’s gender pay gap.

This is the 15th year of the index, which tracks the progress of women in the workplace across 33 OECD countries using five indicators covering pay, participation, unemployment and full‑time employment for women.

According to the index, the gender pay gap in Ireland — which is calculated using Eurostat data measuring the gap between median female income and median male income — fell from 11.8% to 8% and is ahead of the OECD average of 12.4%.

PwC said this indicated faster movement toward pay equality compared to peer economies.

Partner at PwC Ireland Gerard McDonough said improvements in the gender pay gap enhanced the “organisation all-round, creating a fair and inclusive workplace where everyone thrives”.

“This in turn can boost a company’s attractiveness to talent, improve morale, productivity and retention and ensure that diverse viewpoints are factored into decision-making across all levels in the organisation.” 

However, the index also shows progress across OECD members has slowed to its weakest levels since the pandemic, driven by a historic fall in full‑time employment for women and rising unemployment rates.

The overall index report shows gender disparities in the labour market are narrowing, with women across OECD countries returning to work in greater numbers driven by cost-of-living pressures.

“However, the global economic slowdown has adversely affected labour demand, leading to increased female unemployment rates and a reduction in full-time employment for women,” PwC said.

“Consequently, women’s labour market prospects in OECD nations have shown the smallest improvement since covid, and in G7 countries they have slightly declined.” 

The report shows Iceland continues to lead OECD Women in Work rankings, followed by Luxembourg, New Zealand, Sweden and Slovenia. The UK ranks in the middle at 17th out of 33 countries, while Australia has moved up to 10th place from 19th in 2020.

Countries at the top feature supportive parental leave and childcare policies, with these policies enabling women to remain in the workforce, improving progression opportunities.

People partner and workforce tax partner at PwC Ireland Doone O’Doherty said the “countries that succeed will be those that invest in strong foundations in education and continued skills development”.

Improving in the Women in Work Index is not only a social imperative — it is an economic one, with billions in potential gross domestic product at stake.

PwC said the international index rankings were based on 2024 data, due to a lag in availability of annual data across all indicators and countries in the index. This is the latest annual data available at the time of publication.

Late last year, the CSO published its 2025 gender pay gap report, which showed that although women represent half the Irish workforce, they only make up just 27.6% of the top 1% of earners in Ireland.

The proportion of women in the top 1% of earners has been on the rise in recent years but men still earned more than €14,000 on average a year compared to women in 2024.

Even in sectors where women make up the majority of workers, such as in education, health, and accommodation and food services, there were still more men in the top 1% of earners.