Despite accounting for 50 percent of the working-age population, women generate 37 percent of the global GDP — and in certain areas, the average regional GDP contribution is less, according to McKinsey’s annually released research on gender diversity issues.
In India, for example, the regional GDP output share generated by women is just 17 percent. In the Middle East, it’s slightly higher — 18 percent.
In Western Europe, however, women’s regional GDP output share is higher than the global average, 38 percent.
The report noted several factors that, if corrected, could help narrow or close the gender gap, including women working fewer hours a week because many are in part-time jobs, along with disproportionate representation in lower-productivity sectors such as agriculture, and insufficient representation in higher-productivity sectors such as business services.
Shifting women into higher-productivity sectors on par with men’s employment pattern would, for example, contribute another 23 percent of the total opportunity, according to McKinsey.
To find out more about the report’s findings on gender diversity, visit McKinsey’s site.