Closing gender gaps in labour force participation and working hours can have a significant economic impact. According to OECD projections, achieving gender equality in these areas could boost the average annual GDP per capita growth rate across member countries by 0.23 percentage points each year. So, what does this mean in the long term? By 2060, this could lead to a 9.2% overall increase in GDP across OECD-economies.
The benefits of closing gender gaps can be vast, but they are not uniform across all countries – the potential gains are largely determined by the extent of existing gender inequalities in each nation.
Colombia, Costa Rica, and Türkiye, for instance, could see their annual GDP growth bolstered by more than 0.40 percentage points – equating to a projected economic output 17-20% higher than 2060 OECD baseline estimates. Mexico’s outlook shows a potential additional 0.52 percentage points in annual output growth, yielding a 22% rise in its GDP in 2060.
Countries with smaller gender gaps will also see gains, though their boosts might be more modest. OECD estimates that Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia could anticipate an uptick of 0.06 to 0.08 percentage points in annual GDP growth, translating into a 2-3% increase in their 2060 economic output.