The data-informed path to bridging the gender gap in trade

Gender inequality persists globally, impacting economic participation, education, health, and political empowerment, affecting women’s lives globally. Despite advancements, significant disparities remain. In 2023, UN WomenUN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women (UN Women). estimated that at the current rate, it will take 286 years to close gender gaps in legal protection, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership, and 47 years to attain equal representation in national parliaments -—
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—-. Continuing the rate of progress from 2006 to 2023, it will take 169 years to close the economic participation and opportunity gender gap -—
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The UNCTAD ministerial meeting, in Bridgetown, concluded that policies need to go beyond encompassing a gender perspective and actively promote the inclusion and empowerment of women and youth -—
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—-. The ministers underscored the importance of gender-disaggregated data to build the evidence base for such policies. This SDGSustainable Development Goal Pulse In Focus represents commitment to this work, and UNCTAD has spearheaded efforts to advance this area, including through the release of the first ever set of gender equality in trade indicators in July 2024.

The indicators are calculated based on data derived from international databases include employment and earnings by sex in tradable sectors, trade-intensive and trade-dependent industries. These data enable for the first-time to gain insights about international trade from a gender perspective across the world.

Globally, women employees are underrepresented in tradable sectors, representing only 36 per cent of persons employed in tradable sectors in developed and 39 per cent in developing economies. However, their employment in the trade of services has increased at a faster rate than men’s, highlighting the potential for trade in servicesIn the international trade in services context, services are understood as the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets -—
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—-. Following the balance-of-payments classification, trade in services refers to manufacturing services, repair services, transport, travel, construction, telecommunications, computer services, financial services, insurance, intellectual-property related and other business services, as well as personal and cultural services, and government services. to enhance women's economic empowerment, particularly in regions like Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Women’s contribution to domestic value added in exports still lags significantly behind men’s, though it is higher in services exports compared to agriculture and industry. Understanding these emerging patterns to inform effective policy actions will require further country-specific analyses to identify drivers and barriers to women’s participation in high value-added sectors unique to each economy.

Leveraging trade as a catalyst for economic empowerment

Trade plays a crucial role in economic growth and poverty reduction. Thus, inequalities in trade participation and in the distribution of benefits significantly impact people’s lives. In the last three decades, the global poverty rate fell from 38 per cent in 1990 to just below 9 per cent in 2022 -—
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—-. During the same time frame, developing economies’ share of global exports increased from 22 to 45 per cent -—
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—-. Despite the positive long-term trends, the distributional impacts of trade have not been equal across and within economies and populations.

Furthermore, recently these trends got disrupted by the pandemicCommonly described by the WHO as ‘the worldwide spread of a new disease’, no strict definition is provided. In 2009, they set out the basic requirements for a pandemic: • New virus emerges in humans
• Minimal or no population immunity
• Causes serious illness; high morbidity/mortality
• Spreads easily from person to person
• Global outbreak of disease.
The US Centre for Disease Control uses a similar approach, but with a reduced set of criteria. It is very difficult to gauge whether the spread of a disease should be termed an outbreak, epidemic or pandemic. In other words, when to declare a pandemic isn’t a black and white decision -—
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—-., war and crises. An estimated 23 million more people were living in extreme poverty in 2022 compared to 2019 -—
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—-. UNCTAD’s early analysis of the impacts of the pandemic showed that the related changes in international trade led to gendered impacts on employment with women, young and part-time workers as well as those with lower education being most vulnerable to job loss -—
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—-. The pandemic led to disproportionate increases in female unemploymentThe unemployed comprise all persons of working age who were: (a) without work during the reference period, i.e. were not in paid employment or self-employment; (b) currently available for work, i.e. were available for paid employment or self-employment during the reference period; and (c) seeking work, i.e. had taken specific steps in a specified recent period to seek paid employment or self-employment. Future starters, that is, persons who did not look for work but have a future labour market stake (made arrangements for a future job start) are also counted as unemployed, as well as participants in skills training or retraining schemes within employment promotion programmes, and persons “not in employment” who carried out activities to migrate abroad in order to work for pay or profit but who were still waiting for the opportunity to leave -—
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—-., with similar impacts later spreading to industries with higher male employment -—
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—-. Understanding the complex relationship between the economy, trade and gender equality is essential for effective decision-making.

UNCTAD's initial analysis reveals an association between trade openness and women’s economic empowerment. According to the GGPIGlobal Gender Parity Index is a composite index that assesses the relative achievements between women and men in four dimensions: life and good health (one indicator); education, skill-building and knowledge (two indicators); labour and financial inclusion (two indicators); and participation in decision-making (three indicators). and WEIWomen’s Empowerment Index is a composite index that measures the level of women’s empowerment across five dimensions: life and good health (two indicators); education, skill-building and knowledge (two indicators); labour and financial inclusion (two indicators), participation in decisionmaking (three indicators); and freedom from violence (one indicator). indices less than 1 per cent of women and girls reside in a country with high women’s empowerment and gender parity (figure 1), mainly in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, while developing economies, such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Pakistan in Asia, and Benin and Nigeria in Africa lag behind. While the impact of trade liberalization on gender inequality depends on multiple factors, research shows several channels by which trade policy can improve gender equality in wages and employment -—
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—-. Liberalization can drive firms to adopt new technologies and reduce discrimination, making jobs less physically demanding and improving opportunities for women. However, changes in the sectoral structure of production due to liberalization can have both positive and negative effects on gender inequality.

Figure 1. Developed economies generally exhibit greater openness to trade together with enhanced women’s empowerment and gender equality

Source: UNCTAD calculations based on -—
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Note: GGPI and WEI were published by the UNDPUnited Nations Development Programme in 2023. Values of GGPI and WEI greater than 0.6 are considered medium parity, and values greater than 0.8 are considered high parity. The UNCTAD’s trade openness index analyzes countries’ economic dependence on exports and imports. The bubble size refers to the trade openness index. Trade values correspond to the sum of exports and imports of goods and services.

While the importance of women’s economic empowerment for closing gender gaps is widely acknowledged, data to enable effective action to close gender gaps remains rare. This lack of data means that gender equality indices continue to limit the focus of economic empowerment on the labour market and political participation -—
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—-.¹ For instance, GIIGender Inequality Index (GII) measures gender inequalities in three aspects of human development: reproductive health, measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates; empowerment, measured by proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females and proportion of adult females and males aged 25 years and older with at least some secondary education; and economic status, expressed as labor market participation and measured by labor force participation rate of female and male populations aged 15 years and older -—
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—- measures empowerment by gender gap in education and political representation. Like GII, WEI and GGPI -—
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—- also omit the dimension of international trade.² The WEF's GGGIGlobal Gender Gap Index produced by WEF annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment). -—
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—- measures gender parity across four key dimensions, which do not mention trade. The lack of data makes it challenging to analyse the impact of trade on gender equality hindering effective policy making.

Trade significantly influences employment and business opportunities of women and men, their income, social status, welfare, and equality. Export-oriented industries such as textiles and apparel, often employ a large number of female workers -—
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—-, making up to 33 per cent of the workforce of exporting firms in developing economies, compared with just 24 per cent of non-exporting firms -—
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—-. When employed in export-intensive sectors, women are more likely to hold formal jobs with better benefits, training and security. A study in Bangladesh found that rising exports had a higher impact on lifting women from informal to the formal employment and reduced wage gaps in the garment industry -—
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—-. Similarly, a recent study from 154 developing economies, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa, showed that global value chain integration increased the likelihood of women being business owners and employees -—
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However, trade can also exacerbate existing gender inequalities, particularly if accompanying trade policies do not include measures to address social and economic inequalities. Women working in global value chains often occupy low-skill and non-managerial jobs, despite being more likely to hold formal jobs -—
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—-. Feminization of labour – increasing women’s employment in labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles or agriculture, – can lead to gender wage discrimination and poor working conditions due to women’s lower bargaining power offering competitive advantage to firms. In contrast, defeminization of labour – declining share of women’s employment as observed in some countries (e.g., the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Province of China, and Malaysia), – occurs in capital and technology-intensive sectors and may marginalize women due to stereotypes and occupational segregation -—
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—-. Gender equality in trade is highly context-specific and difficult to generalize which is why country-level data and case studies are important.

New data linking initiatives to bridge the gap

Despite the urgent need to analyse trade from a gender perspective, only a few countries regularly compile sex-disaggregated indicators linked to international trade, and some countries do so on an ad hoc basis. For example, Finland and New Zealand linked such data to find that women were underrepresented in international trade both as employees and business owners (See National efforts to produce statistics on gender and trade). Some countries have also collected additional data by specialized surveys on trade and gender, such as Chile -—
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—- and Uruguay -—
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—- and some international organizations, like the World Bank, support countries by carrying out such surveys. These can provide more in-depth information on trade barriers or informal cross-border trade to inform policy but may be costly to carry out.

Prompted by the Buenos Aires declaration -—
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—- and collaboration with pioneering countries and organizations, UNCTAD developed the ‘Conceptual Framework for the Measurement of Gender Equality in Trade' -—
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—-. Efforts to test this framework in six pilot countries and develop gender equality in trade statistics at both national and global levels followed to fill this pressing data gap. These UNCTAD's initiatives, and the Compilation Guidelines -—
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—- released last year and the 2024 release of a global analytical dataset on gender equality in trade, represent significant strides toward addressing the data gaps with countries and partners (See UNCTAD in Action: Gender and Trade). These indicators and the related analysis are intended to inform more gender-inclusive trade policies.

Women continue to be underrepresented in trade across regions

Women’s underrepresentation in tradable sectors is evident across regions, as indicated by UNCTAD’s data (figure 2). 36 per cent of employees in tradable sectors are women in developed economies compared to 39 per cent in developing economies. Notably, African countries exhibit the lowest gender employment gap in tradable sectors, with women comprising 42 per cent of employees compared to 58 per cent for men.

Figure 2. Women employees are underrepresented in tradable sectors across regions, 2022

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Source: UNCTAD calculations based on -—
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Notes: Classification of tradable and non-tradable sectors is derived based on -—
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—-. Tradable sectors include agriculture (ISIC Rev. 4 - A), industry (B, C, D, E), transport, information and communication (H, J), financial and insurance activities (K), and other services (R,S,T,U). Non-tradable sectors include construction, distributive trade, repairs, accommodation, food services activities (F, GGrams, I), real estate activities (L), business services (M, N), and public administration (O, P, Q). Transportation is also included among tradable sectors, because international transport is considered to be a key enabler of international trade -—
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Women face barriers to trade participation, such as unequal access to resources, limited training opportunities, and cultural constraints. UNCTAD’s studies also highlight the disproportionate burden of care and household work and women’s higher participation in low productivity work are major constraints to women's full economic empowerment -—
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—-. It is estimated that only 15 per cent of exporting firms globally are women-led -—
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—-, and female business owners face higher trade barriers and limited access to finance, which further restricts their business growth and access to international markets -—
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Analysis of OECDOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries revealed that 11 per cent of women-led firms export internationally compared to 19 per cent of men-led firms. However, once involved in exports, women-led firms do so to a similar or larger number of countries than firms led by men, suggesting the particular importance of policies aimed at removing entry barriers for women entrepreneurs -—
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—-. For instance, legal and regulatory barriers, such as restrictions on property ownership or business activities and travel, limit women’s entrepreneurship. The Women, Business, and the Law Index indicates that women have less than two-thirds of the legal rights available to men, particularly in entrepreneurship -—
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—-. Gender-blind trade policies may exacerbate these inequalities, also in access to market information and trade networks, hindering women’s ability to participate effectively in trade.

Services trade offers increasing potential for women’s economic empowerment

Women are concentrated in the services sector in all regions. Figure 3 shows a rising share of services as an employer of both women and men from 1991 to 2022 in all regions. The shift to services is also mirrored in international trade as growth of trade in services is surpassing that of goods since 2011 -—
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—-. Developing economies in Africa, Asia and Oceania have potential for growth in services with opportunities for expanding women’s contribution to the economy.

Figure 3. Women's employment in services increased at a faster rate than men's since 1991

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Source: UNCTAD calculations based on -—
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In manufacturing, high shares of female employment typically align with whether an industry is capital-intensive (technology-dependent) or labour-intensive. Low technology-intensive industries which typically employ more women (termed feminization of labour), such as food and beverages and textiles, often face higher tariffs on imported inputs than other industries. Such tariffs can elevate trade costs and hinder the competitiveness of sectors that offer employment opportunities for women -—
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—-. For instance, data show that the United Republic of Tanzania exhibited a high share of female employees, 54 per cent in 2020, in its low technology-intensive industries, such as food, beverages and textiles. In contrast, the share of women in medium-high and high technology-intensive sectors, was substantially lower at 10 per cent in 2020. Another example is Cambodia, where female share in low-technology industries, such as wearing apparel and leather products, was high at 67 per cent in 2021, compared to medium-high and high technology-intensive industries where female share of labour was 48 per cent in the same year (figure 4).

Figure 4. Share of female employees is higher in low technology-intensive manufacturing industries compared to more capital-intensive industries

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Note: The year for the reported employment varies from 2009 to the latest available. Technology classification is based on R&DResearch and development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge -—
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Women produce 20-40 per cent of total export value depending on region

Women’s contributions to domestic value added in gross exports lag behind men’s across all regions. This indicates that women’s contribution to the production of goods and services exported worldwide still trails that of men (figure 5). For example, in 2020 women’s largest contribution to domestic value added in gross exports was estimated at 40 per cent in developed economies, while in Africa women only produced one fourth of the total generated exported value. In developing Americas and developing Asia and Oceania, men’s contributions were nearly double that of female generated domestic value added in gross exports.

Figure 5. Women’s contributions to domestic value added in gross exports lag behind men’s across all regions, 2020

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Note: Aggregated figures are based on data on employment and trade in value added for 76 economies. This analysis assumes that there are no differences in gender distribution between exporting and non-exporting firms. The proportions of male and female contributions to domestic value added are calculated assuming homogeneity in labour intensity, skills, etc., thereby stating that women represent a comparable share of value added to their proportion in employment.

Analysis by sectors reveals an intriguing pattern: women’s domestic value added is higher in services exports compared to agriculture and industry in most regions (figure 6). This suggests that trade in services offers greater opportunities for women to contribute to exports in developed economies, developing Africa and the Americas. For instance, in developed economies women’s domestic value added in services nearly equals men’s, whereas their contribution to agriculture and industry exports is approximately one third of that of men’s.

Figure 6. In most regions, women’s domestic value added is higher in services gross exports compared to agriculture and industry, 2020

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Note: Aggregated figures are based on data on employment and trade in value added for 76 economies. This analysis assumes that there are no differences in gender distribution between exporting and non-exporting firms. The proportions of male and female contributions to domestic value added are calculated assuming homogeneity in labour intensity, skills, etc., thereby stating that women represent a comparable share of value added to their proportion in employment.

To further explore women’s contribution to higher value-added exports, the analysis examines exports of goods and services that add more than 50 per cent to the domestic value added in exports. Figure 7 shows that women's share of employment is higher in economies where services exports contribute more than 50 per cent to the domestic value added, compared to economies where goods exports contribute more than 50 per cent. This supports WTO’s argument that services trade may benefit women in the labour market, as services sectors exhibit greater gender balance than manufacturing or mining -—
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Figure 7. Economies with high exported value added from services show greater female employment rates compared to goods-producing industries

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Note: The year for the reported employment varies from 2008 to 2020 based on the latest available with most data reported for 2019 or later. Country data for high-exported value added – i.e. sectors contributing more than 50% to the domestic value added in gross exports. Sectors are aggregated into two groups: goods (primary goods and manufacturers) and services.

While UNCTAD’s first set of trade and gender indicators show that women are still underrepresented in tradable sectors and contribute less to creating domestic value added content in exports across regions, a sectoral analysis reveals opportunities to catalyse trade for women’s economic empowerment. Trade in services presents an opportunity for women to contribute to the growth of exports in most regions. Nevertheless, a further in-depth analysis can help to identify specific drivers and bottlenecks of women’s contribution to high-value sectors unique to each economy. This approach requires country-level linking of micro-data to enable more accurate insights to inform policy action, such as the following examples of UNCTAD’s collaboration with Finland and Georgia.

Women’s contribution to domestic value-added exports in Finland

A small open economy like Finland benefits from globalization and foreign trade significantly. The share of exports in GDPGross domestic product (GDP) is an aggregate measure of production, income and expenditure of an economy. As a production measure, it represents the gross value added, i.e., the output net of intermediate consumption, achieved by all resident units engaged in production, plus any taxes less subsidies on products not included in the value of output. As an income measure, it represents the sum of primary incomes (gross wages and entrepreneurial income) distributed by resident producers, plus taxes less subsidies on production and imports. As an expenditure measure, it depicts the sum of expenditure on final consumption, gross capital formation (i.e., investment, changes in inventories, and acquisitions less disposals of valuables) and exports after deduction of imports -—
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—-. is high up to 30 per cent, but the benefits of trade are unevenly distributed between businesses, employees and consumers -—
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—-. Statistics show a high concentration of exports in the largest enterprises, and higher salaries paid by trading firms compared to others. Importantly, the study showed that women work less often in trading companies, and only one fifth of businesses engaged in exports are female owned.

Gender gap widens as firm size increases.

Statistics Finland releases annually experimental statistics on trade in value added. These can be compiled by linking existing data sources without additional data collection. An analysis of domestic value added embodied in exports, whether through direct or indirect export dependencies, reveals insights into the role of firms and export-supported jobs (figure 8). While larger enterprises in Finland provide many jobs supported by exports, the proportion of jobs that are export-supported is smaller in the largest enterprises, since they often engage with smaller intermediaries to produce intermediate goods for them.³

The global value chain analysis reveals that in Finland women’s share of jobs supported by exports is 32 per cent compared with 38 per cent for men. Interestingly, while export-supported jobs in micro-firms are almost equally distributed between women (20 per cent) and men (21 per cent), the gender gap widens as firm size increases. In large firms, 30 per cent of women’s jobs are supported by exports compared to 43 per cent of men’s jobs.

Figure 8. Finland’s women’s contribution to domestic value added is lower than men’s contribution with widening gap in larger firms, 2021

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Women’s employment, wages and entrepreneurship in trade in Georgia

Gender aspects of trade statistics become very relevant to addressing issues related to welfare and equality. There’s high interest from state institutions, international partners and non-governmental organizations,Gogita Todradze, executive director of Georgia’s National Statistics Office

Georgia was the inaugural pilot country supported by UNECE and UNCTAD in developing sex-disaggregated trade indicators through microdata linking (See UNCTAD in Action: Gender and Trade).⁴ This involved linking annual goods trade data with key sex-disaggregated variables from business statistics and the structure of earnings survey. The linked company-employee data represented over 85 per cent of both exports and imports value in Georgia.

High-skill female workers face less gender inequalities.

The study revealed gender gaps in employment and wages. Women-to-men employment ratios in trading companies ranged from 57 to 64 per cent over the five-year period, while the gender pay gap fluctuated between 30 and 35 per cent. Further analysis by skill levels indicated that high-skill workers had the lowest gender pay gap (18 per cent for importers, 31 per cent for two-way traders), while the gaps for managers and low-skill workers were between 38 and 45 per cent. Gender indicators disaggregated by skill levels highlighted that, generally, high skilled female workers experienced less disparity in trade, both in their employment and pay (figures 9 and 10). Higher education levels could protect women from some gender inequalities.

Figure 9. Gender employment gap in trading companies is lowest among high-skilled workers in Georgia, 2017

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Note: Two-way traders are defined as firms involved in both exports and imports of goods.

Figure 10. Gender pay gap is the highest among low-skilled workers in trading enterprises in Georgia, 2017

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Note: Two-way traders are defined as firms involved in both exports and imports of goods.

The data linking exercise also facilitated the analysis of female and male entrepreneurs in trade. It revealed that men own trading companies five times more often than women (figure 11). Drawing on these data insights, Georgia plans to include gender-in-trade statistics in its regular statistical production to inform design of policies that encourage women entrepreneurship, as well as increase job opportunities and wages for women in international trade.

Figure 11. In Georgia, men own five times more trading companies than women, 2017

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Note: Two-way traders are defined as firms involved in both exports and imports of goods.

More inclusive economies reach higher productive capacities

Enhancing a country’s productive capacities — comprising of human and natural capital, energy, transport and ICTInformation and communications technology (ICT) is a diverse set of technological tools and resources used to transmit, store, create, share or exchange information. These resources include computers, the Internet, live broadcasting technologies, recorded broadcasting technologies and telephony -—
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—-.. Investments in productive capacitiesUNCTAD defines productive capacities as consisting of the productive resources, entrepreneurial capabilities and production linkages that together determine a country’s ability to produce goods and services that will help it grow and develop -—
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The strong relationship between inclusive growth and productive capacities is illustrated in figure 12. It also shows that economies with higher PCIProductive Capacities Index (PCI) is a multidimensional composite index that measures productive capacities of economies by using eight categories: natural and human capital, energy, institutions, private sector, structural change, transport and information, and communication technologies, which together yield the multidimensional productive capacity index -—
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Figure 12. Developed economies reveal higher PCI and IGI equality scores in 2021

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Note: The figure compares overall PCI scores (x-axis) and IGI equality scores (y-axis). The size of the bubbles refers to the overall IGI scores. IGI is composed of four dimensions – economy, living conditions, equality and environment.

Domestic value added in gross exports is closely linked to productive capacities because it reflects the extent to which a country's domestic resources, capabilities and production processes contribute to the final goods and services that are exported. In 2020, total value added, as measured by domestic value added in gross exports, is estimated at almost $15 trillion globally, with 3 per cent generated in agriculture, 56 per cent in industry and 42 per cent in services -—
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Figure 13. Developed economies reveal higher PCI scores and higher contribution of women to domestic value added in gross exports in services

Source: UNCTAD calculation based on -—
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Note: The year for the reported employment varies from 2015 to 2020 based on the latest available. Country data for high-exported value added – i.e. sectors contributing more than 50% to the domestic value added in gross exports. Sectors are aggregated into two groups: goods (primary goods and manufacturers) and services.

While a clear division between developed and developing economies exists in their productive capacities, some outliers, particularly in the service sector, warrant examination. To understand why some economies follow a different path, PCAPrincipal Component Analysis (PCA) is a multivariate statistical technique that reduces the observed variables to orthogonal principal components that explain as much of the variance in the data as possible -—
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The analysis identifies four principal components, namely education and social conditions (PC1), trade and labour participation (PC2) and political empowerment and participation in decision-making (PC3 and PC4) which explain 71 per cent of the total variance of gender equality. The first component mostly represents preconditions for trade participation for women and men: motivations, aspirations, resources, and constraints. The second points to their degree of involvement in trade. The third one stands for political empowerment and participation in various levels of decision-making.

Figure 14. Developed economies reveal higher gender equality in education and social conditions and in trade participation in contrast to developing economies

Source: Data for the analysis is collected from multiple sources, UNCTAD Gender-in-trade indicators -—
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Note: The figure shows gender equality in education and social conditions (PC1) on the x-axis and gender equality in trade and labour participation (PC2) on the y-axis.

Developed economies stand out as a relatively homogenous group with higher gender equality in education and social conditions and in trade participation with a stark contrast to developing economies (figure 14). They also boast better social conditions and higher women’s empowerment and wages.

Various patterns of gender equality in trade emerge across different countries. In a cluster including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Peru and Viet Nam, women participate significantly in trade, particularly in industries and sectors heavily reliant on trade. Conversely, a group of economies represented on the right side of figure 14 (Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, India, Pakistan and Tunisia) faces unfavourable conditions for women’s economic participation, resulting in limited benefits from trade. Nordic and Benelux countries share similarities in high levels of women’s empowerment, institutional representation, education, and wages, grouping them together. Similarly, Eastern European economies demonstrate commonalities in high female labour force and trade participation. These diverse patterns highlight the complex interplay between gender equality, trade participation, and economic and social conditions across different regions.

Table 1. Summary of gender-relevant indicators used for the PCA analysis

Component	Gender equality dimension	Indicator
PC 1	Education and social conditions	Restricted access to productive and financial assets index (SIGI)
		Adolescent birth rate (births per 1,000 women ages 15–19)
		Discrimination in the family index (SIGI)
		Ever-partnered women and girls subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months (% ages 15–49)
		Labour force participation rate among prime-working-age individuals whoWorld Health Organization are living in a household comprising a couple and at least one child under age 6, female (% ages 25–54)
		Population with completed secondary education or higher, female (% ages 25 and older)
		Restricted physical integrity index (SIGI)
		Women of reproductive age whose need for family planning is satisfied with modern methods (% ages 15–49)
		Youth not in education, employment or training, female (% ages 15–24)
PC 2	Trade and labour participation	Average monthly earnings of female employees in high exported value added industries (2017 PPPPurchasing power parity $)
		Average monthly earnings of female employees in tradable sectors (2017 PPP $)
		Share of female employees in high exported value added in industries (%)
		Share of female employees in high export-intensive industries (%)
		Share of female employees in top 5 export-intensive industries (country level) (%)
		Share of female employees in tradable sectors (%)
PC 3 & 4	Political empowerment and participation in decision-making	Restricted civil liberties index (SIGI)
		Share of managerial positions held by women (%)
		Share of seats held by women, local governments (%)
		Share of seats held by women, parliament (%)

Source: Data for the analysis is collected from multiple sources, UNCTAD Gender-in-trade indicators -—
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Note: Indicators are grouped into gender equality dimensions based on the PCA results.

Trade policy as a driving force to bridge gender inequality gaps

Gender equality amplifies human progress, economic growth, and social development. Governments play a crucial role by allocating funds for essential services, investing in education, social support and legal reforms shaping policies and taking actions to enhance economic empowerment, and combatting gender-based barriers and violence.

UNCTAD, jointly with UN Women -—
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—-.⁵ The total spending need is substantial, at $6.4 trillion per year, representing 21 per cent of the collective GDPs of these economies. Per person, the total cost is calculated at $1 383 annually. Notably, SIDSSmall island developing states (SIDS) were recognized as a distinct group of developing countries at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. More information on UNCTAD official page. and LDCsLeast developed country face the highest requirements relative to the size of their economies, with 44 and 42 per cent of their GDPs, respectively. However, it is essential to recognize that achieving gender equality yields high synergies with all SDGsSustainable Development Goal. Similar to investments in education, progress towards gender equality can catalyse advancements across various SDGs, such as eradicating poverty, alleviating hunger, and driving socio-economic progress by women’s equal participation in society.

Trade policy is increasingly recognized as a means to address gender disparities and promote inclusive trade. Today, approximately one-fourth of RTAsRegional Trade Agreement. Refer to reciprocal trade agreement between two or more partners, not necessarily belonging to the same region. RTA is an exception to the WTO rule of non-discrimination. WTO members are permitted to enter into an RTA under specific conditions. (WTO, 2023a). WTO members are obliged to notify the RTAs in which they participate. All of the WTO's members have notified participation in one or more RTAs (some members are party to 20 or more). Notifications may also refer to the accession of new parties to an agreement that already exists. incorporate gender-related provisions -—
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Incorporating stand-alone gender chapters in trade agreements has enhanced the visibility of gender issues in trade policymaking, especially through requirements to assess progress with agreed indicators. UNCTAD has developed ways to link statistical data to assess the gender impacts of trade agreements, with support by the European Commission -—
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Data and analysis are key to understanding the complex dynamics essential for achieving more gender equal trade. These dynamics are shaped by various factors, including domestic labour markets, cultural norms, legal frameworks, international markets and economic fluctuations. Such interactions are highly country-specific, what works in one country may not yield results in another.

Table 2. FTAs with gender chapters

Agreements with gender chapters	Type	Year
Chile-Uruguay FTA	Bilateral	2016
Chile-Argentina FTA	Bilateral	2017
Chile-Brazil FTA	Bilateral	2018
Chile-Ecuador FTA	Bilateral	2020
United Kingdom-Japan FTA	Bilateral	2020
Canada-Chile amended FTA	Bilateral	2019
Canada-Israel amended FTA	Bilateral	2019
United Kingdom-Australia FTA	Bilateral	2021
United Kingdom -New Zealand FTA	Bilateral	2021

Source: UNCTAD Trade, Gender and Development Programme

Trade agreements have the potential to significantly advance gender equality, particularly when they recognize and harness the transformative power of gender equality for our societies. Economies with higher productive capacities tend to achieve greater gender equality and more inclusive growth. Gender equality is essential for long-term structural transformationStructural transformation or change can be broadly defined as the reallocation of economic activity across three broad sectors, agriculture, manufacturing and services, which accompanies the process of economic growth -—
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—-. by improving human capital allocation, but sustainable economic development also relies on aggregate demand and macroeconomic policies. While the global dataset offers new insights into gender and trade, linking country-level micro-data is needed to inform effective policy action. Greater involvement of women and civil society representatives in negotiation and monitoring of trade agreements is critical to enhance positive outcomes of trade policies. UNCTAD supports governments in sensitizing trade officials to gender implications, enhancing data and analytical capacities, and carrying out ex ante impact assessments.

★ UNCTAD in Action ★

Gender and Trade

2 200 people trained on UNCTAD’s e-learning courses on trade and gender in 2015-2023.

Since 2015, UNCTAD’s e-learning courses on trade and gender have addressed the knowledge gap about how gender and trade interlink, and how trade policies can contribute to reducing gender inequalities, targeting especially developing and least developed countries. To date, nearly 2 200 people (62 per cent women) in 154 countries have benefitted from 25 iterations of the online course (figure 15). Participants speak about their experience in this video.

Figure 15. Over 60 per cent of people trained in UNCTAD’s e-courses on trade and gender were from Africa in 2015-2023

Source: UNCTAD Trade, Gender and Development Programme

Six countries compiled new indicators and more than 500 experts were trained.

UNCTAD spearheaded efforts on gender equality in trade statistics following the Buenos Aires Declaration -—
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This informed the development of Compilation Guidelines -—
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Table 3. UNCTAD trained more than 500 people in 11 events on gender and trade statistics

Type of workshop	Number of workshops	Total number of participants
Regional workshop	4	302
National workshops	6	188
Interregional training workshop	1	32
Total	11	522

Source: UNDA project “Data and statistics for more gender-responsive trade policies in Africa, the Caucasus and Central Asia”

Increased capacity of over 500 small-scale traders in six countries.

Informal cross-border trade is largely driven by women as one of the few options available to them due to their time constraints, limited access to resources, and lower education levels. Despite their critical role, they often face challenges, such as regulatory barriers, high duties, poor border facilities, weak border governance, corruption and harassment, resulting in minimal benefits from trading.

Small-scale traders also encounter challenges beyond checkpoints, including information gaps on rules, regulations and market demand. Additionally, supply side obstacles such as difficulties in business registration and limited capital resources further impede their success.

To address these barriers, UNCTAD initiated a capacity-building programme for women in small-scale informal cross-border trade. The programme aims to raise awareness of trade rules and customs procedures, enhance entrepreneurial skills (see UNCTAD in Action on Empretec) and facilitate dialogue with border authorities. In 2019-2023, 18 workshops were delivered focusing on trade rules, customs procedures and entrepreneurship at 9 border crossings in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, benefiting 547 cross-border traders, most of which were women (map 1).

Map 1. Over 500 small-scale traders trained on trade procedures and entrepreneurship skills, 2019-2023

Source: UNCTAD Trade, Gender and Development Programme

International treaties and agreements related to gender equality

Numerous international agreements aim to promote gender equality, urging countries to safeguard women’s rights.

Figure 16. Timeline of international treaties and agreements related to gender equality

Source: UNCTAD

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is a landmark treaty adopted in 1979, obligating signatory states to combat discrimination against women in various fields, including politics, law, employment, education, and healthcare -—
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Notes

1. For instance, UNCTAD analysis of three major global gender equality indices (The Global Gender Gap Index (GGI), The Gender Inequality Index (GII), The Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) revealed that none of them reported indicators related to trade.
2. WEI is comprised of 10 indicators related life and good health (two indicators); education, skill-building and knowledge (two indicators); labour and financial inclusion (two indicators), participation in decision making (three indicators); and freedom from violence (one indicator). GGPI is a composite index that assesses the relative achievements between women and men in four dimensions: life and good health (one indicator); education, skill-building and knowledge (two indicators); labour and financial inclusion (two indicators); and participation in decision making (three indicators). Source: -—
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3. This analysis is made in relation to the size of the producing firms, not exporting firms. When producing goods for exports, large firms typically use intermediate goods, which are either produced by other (smaller) firms domestically or imported.
4. Georgia’s National Statistical Office was the first to take part in the UNDA project titled "Data and statistics for more gender-responsive trade policies in Africa, the Caucasus, and Central Asia".
5. UNCTAD in partnership with UNDESAUnited Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and UNDP calculated the costs along six key “transition pathways” that can amplify efforts and speed up progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addition to these six pathways, UNCTAD is working with UN Women to estimate the cost of achieving gender equality for certain gender-related SDG indicators.
6. The study covered the following border crossings: Noe-Elubo border (Côte d'Ivoire–Ghana); Afl­ao–Kodjoviakope (Ghana–Togo); Segbe–Kpoglo (Ghana–Togo); Hillacondji–Sanve econdji (Togo–Benin); Seme–Krake (Benin–Nigeria).
7. In Rwanda, informal cross-border trade is defined as transactions in goods between residents and non-residents of the country that are not documented through official customs clearance system and ultimately not included in the official statistics. They constitute exports and imports of goods and exclude smuggled goods; transit goods; goods properly (100 per cent) declared and verified by the customs officials on declaration documents.

References

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