Gender Equality Index 2024: Results for Bosnia and Herzegovina Published

The 2024 Index was fully calculated for three of the six core domains (Knowledge, Time, and Power), as well as for three sub-domains (Participation from the Work domain, and Status and Access from the Health domain).

In the domain of Knowledge, Bosnia and Herzegovina scored 58.2 points in the 2024 Gender Equality Index, marking a decline compared to 2023 (58.4) and 2022 (58.7). This reflects a slight but consistent downward trend. In the sub-domain of Educational Attainment and Participation, the score is 53.4, down from 54.0 in 2023 and 54.9 in 2022. Bosnia and Herzegovina's 2024 score in this domain is six points below the EU average of 64.2.

In the domain of Power, Bosnia and Herzegovina scored 46.3 points in 2024, which is 15.1 points below the EU average. This represents a decrease from 49.1 in 2023 and 51.2 in 2022. However, the Political Power sub-domain shows a positive trend, improving from 40.8 in 2022 to 42.9 in 2023 and 44.6 in 2024. On the other hand, the Social Power sub-domain declined to 50.6 in 2024 (from 53.1 in 2023 and 51.2 in 2022), while the Economic Power sub-domain dropped to 43.8 in 2024 from 51.8 in 2023 and 64.1 in 2022.

The Political Power sub-domain measures the representation of women in executive and legislative bodies, including local councils. Social Power reflects gender balance in research funding bodies, public broadcasters, and leadership of Olympic sports organizations. Economic Power measures the share of women on boards of the largest companies and in the executive board of the Central Bank. The decline in this sub-domain over the past three years is attributed to changes in board composition, leading to shifts in gender representation. These changes do not provide statistically significant evidence of a general decline in women's economic power.

Within the Work domain, only the Participation sub-domain could be calculated, with a score of 61.4 in 2024. This represents a slight increase from 60.9 in 2023, but still lower than the 2022 score of 62.8. The 2024 score for Bosnia and Herzegovina in this sub-domain is 21.9 points below the EU average of 83.3.

The results for the Time and Health domains were repeated from the previous Index due to a lack of new data for 2023. As in previous years, it was not possible to calculate the score for the Money domain due to a lack of relevant and gender-disaggregated data sources.

The Gender Equality Index is a tool that enables statistically sound, objective, and up-to-date comparisons of gender equality levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EU, and the region, based on the official Eurostat methodology. Thanks to reliable statistical indicators, the 2024 Gender Equality Index allows us to monitor trends and assess the current state of gender equality in our society.

This year’s results clearly show that despite the continued efforts of institutional gender equality mechanisms, partner institutions, NGOs, and international stakeholders, Bosnia and Herzegovina is stagnating or regressing in most indicators that make up the Gender Equality Index. The gap between the Bosnia and Herzegovina Index and the EU Gender Equality Index continues to widen each year.