Women, Business and the Law Data

Women, Business and the Law data is available for the period from 1971 to 2023 (calendar years 1970 to 2022). By developing a time series and further researching the interaction between inequality of opportunity for women and labor market dynamics, Women, Business and the Law strengthens insights into how women’s employment and entrepreneurship are affected by legal gender discrimination, and in turn how this affects economic outcomes.

Please cite the data as follows: "World Bank. 2023. Women, Business and the Law 2023. Washington, DC: World Bank."

Explore Our Data

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Economy Snapshots

Download economy snapshots containing data by indicator, areas of improvement, and scores.

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Women, Business and the Law Data for 1971-2023

Explore trends over time with annual data for 190 economies during the period from 1971 to 2023 (calendar years 1970 to 2022).

Download file (Excel) |  Download file (STATA) |  Read the report |  Data revision |  Economy snapshots (WBL 2023)
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National Financial Inclusion Strategies

Explore a dataset on the emerging trends in national financial inclusion strategies that support women’s entrepreneurship in 190 economies. Fifty-two economies worldwide had valid financial inclusion strategies in force as of June 30, 2022. Also, an increasing number of financial inclusion strategies are now highlighting the need to promote women’s financial inclusion. This research was conducted in collaboration with CGAP based on data collected with the help of Women, Business, and the Law’s network of local experts.

Download file (Excel) |  Read the study
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Toward Available, Affordable, and Quality Childcare Services

Explore a data set of non-scored questions as part of the pilot research on the availability, affordability, and quality of childcare services in 95 economies. The pilot research presents a new conceptual framework for measuring the legal environment for childcare provision.

Download file (Excel) |  Visit the topic page |  Read the chapter
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Measuring the Legal Environment in Practice

Explore a data set of non-scored questions as part of the pilot research on the implementation of laws in 25 economies. This pilot project presents a new conceptual framework for measuring the implementation gap by examining supportive frameworks for primary legislation and expert opinions of laws in practice.

Download file (Excel) |  Visit the topic page |  Read the chapter
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The Rights of Women with Disabilities

Explore a data set on the Rights of Women with Disabilities in 190 economies. The 11 non-scored questions explore how laws include or exclude women with disabilities from accessing economic opportunities. The research was designed in collaboration with disability rights experts and data was collected with the help of Women, Business and the Law’s network of local legal experts.

Download file (Excel) |  Visit the topic page |  Read the study
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Women, Business and the Law - COVID-19 Data

Women, Business and the Law added research questions related to policy measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to its data collection questionnaires. Explore a data set covering three main areas: childcare measures, access to court systems, and safeguarding women's health and safety.

Download file (Excel) |  Read the Section in the 2021 Report
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Women, Business and the Law - Additional Data

Explore a data set of 14 non-scored questions (years 2017, 2019, and 2020), including data on child marriage, customary law, citizenship, sexual harassment, and access to ID cards.

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Our Data Out There

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SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

The World Bank's Women, Business, and the Law project, UN Women, and the OECD Development Centre, collectively serve as co-custodians for SDG Indicator 5.1.1, whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex.

WBL_data out there

Our World in Data: Women's Rights

This page contains data and visualizations on how the protection of women’s rights has changed over time, and how it differs across countries.

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The Legal Barriers to Women's Rights and Opportunities

This course examines the legal and regulatory barriers hindering women’s rights and access to equal economic opportunity. These laws codify discriminatory practices that put women at risk of harassment and violence as well as prevent women from fully participating in the economy.

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WBG Gender Data Portal

The Gender Data Portal is the World Bank Group’s comprehensive source for the latest sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics covering demography, education, health, access to economic opportunities, public life and decision-making, and agency.

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Breaking barriers: the path to equality

Women have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. And gender equality is critical to recovery from the pandemic. Yet women in many countries still face barriers throughout their working lives. But what barriers? Where? And how big is the economic cost?

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Women’s Rights Are Improving Worldwide

The CATO Institute looked at 19 of Women, Business and the Law questions that they felt best measured gender equality. The data show that gender inequality worldwide has fallen significantly since 1970.

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The Rocky Road To Gender Equality: Are Women Better Off Now Than In 1970?

Over the past few decades, many countries have made reforms toward greater gender equality, but despite this progress, women still face regulations that restrict their economic opportunities.

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SME Finance Forum

The SME Finance identified and categorized Women Business and the Law 2021 questions and indicators of relevance for SME finance as a first step to systematically aggregate gender data to understand the factors, monitor trends and progress.

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Generation Equality: Women Deliver

Girls’ and women’s rights are human rights, and advancing gender equality is fundamental to ensuring the health, freedom, dignity, and liberty of all people.