The country obtained 63.4 points out of 100, 5.2 points less than in 2024, and equalling the European average of 27, but manages to rise five positions and reach tenth place in the ranking created by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) to assess the evolution of gender equality policies.

Sweden (73.7 points), France (73.4) and Denmark (71.8) occupy the top three places.

Above Portugal was Luxembourg, with 63.9 points, and below, in 11th place, was Germany, with 63.2 points out of a possible 100.

According to the EIGE, Portugal is part of the group of countries in upward convergence – alongside Denmark, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Finland, and Sweden – that “are improving their scores over time, simultaneously reducing their differences from the EU average”.

The Gender Equality Index tracks countries' progress in six areas: work, money, knowledge, time, power, and health, giving ratings on a scale of 0 to 100, in addition to monitoring violence against women and intersectional inequalities.

Health

Portugal's ranking is partly explained by its result in the area of ​​health, where it achieved 80.6 points out of a possible 100, followed by money, with 79.9 points.

Nevertheless, the EIGE points to Portugal as one of the countries, alongside Malta, with one of the “greatest gender disparities in terms of healthy years of life, expressed as a percentage of life expectancy, in favor of men,” with a 13 percentage point difference between genders.

In the area of ​​power, where it obtains the worst ranking with 36.8 points, Portugal is noted as one of the nine member states that have implemented gender quotas, by legislative decree, for the boards of directors of listed companies.

“France, Italy and, more recently, Spain, have a 40% participation rate. In Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal, it is 33%,” it emphasizes.

On the other hand, regarding political participation, the EIGE says that Portugal, like other countries such as Cyprus or Bulgaria, experienced “some setbacks” with a five-point drop in the presence and proportion of women in parliament, compared to 2020.

In contrast, Portugal contributed to the “two percentage point increase in the proportion of women in EU regional and local assemblies” in recent years, aided by a four percentage point increase in its national proportion, along with Italy and Belgium. Denmark (11 percentage points), the Netherlands and Cyprus (six percentage points), Luxembourg and Greece (five percentage points) also contributed to this increase.