

MANILA- The Philippines remains as one of the most gender equal countries worldwide with equal opportunities on political and economic leadership for men and women, a World Economic Forum (WEF) report showed.

Manila ranked 8th in this year's Global Gender Gap report, higher by 2 notches from last year's ranking. It was the only Asian country in the top 10.

Iceland was hailed as the most gender-equal country this year, followed by Norway, Sweden, Finland and Nicaragua, respectively.

Other countries that made it to the top 10 are Rwanda at 6th, New Zealand at 7th, Ireland at 9th, and Namibia at 10th.

Since the report was launched in 2006, the Philippines has consistently been in the top 10, with the WEF attributing this year's rise to "full parity" on political and economic leadership.

The WEF also noted that the Philippines was near to closing 80 percent of its overall gender gap, the "highest value" for the country ever recorded by the index.

The Philippines also recorded a closer gender gap in terms of economic participation and opportunity due to an increase in wage equality for similar work, the WEF said.

In terms of educational attainment, the Philippines ranked first, meaning it has fully closed the gender gap, along with Canada, France, and New Zealand among others.

The report, however, noted that Manila needs to improve in closing the gender gap in its health and survival category.

Worldwide, the report noted that the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years. The gender gap in the workplace meanwhile will take over 2 centuries more to close.

Released on Tuesday, the 2018 Global Gender Gap Report benchmarked 149 countries on their progress towards gender parity based on political empowerment, labor force participation, educational attainment, and health and survival.