Wage Gap Statistics

GITNUXREPORT 2026

Wage Gap Statistics

Women in OECD countries still earn about 19.1% less than men on average, and the gap stretches from 3% to 30% across countries, even though pay transparency and equal pay reporting rules are designed to close it. This page connects the drivers behind the difference, from occupational segregation and motherhood penalties to how pay equity audits and structured job evaluations can reduce the gap.

33 statistics33 sources11 sections9 min readUpdated 8 days ago

Key Statistics

Statistic 1

In France in 2022, the unadjusted gender pay gap was 12.3% (Eurostat country time series)

Statistic 2

In 2023, the female-to-male median hourly earnings ratio was 83% in the US for full-time workers (derived from BLS median hourly earnings by sex)

Statistic 3

In Canada in 2022, women earned $0.88 per $1.00 earned by men on average hourly earnings (full-time; StatCan)

Statistic 4

In India 2022, women’s average wages were 62% of men’s wages for paid work (ILO; gender wage indicator)

Statistic 5

1 in 3 workers in the OECD report experiencing wage discrimination during their careers (share varies by country; OECD average is 33%)

Statistic 6

19.1% average gender pay gap among OECD countries (unadjusted; latest OECD comparative estimate for women compared with men)

Statistic 7

In the US, women with disabilities earned 78% of what men with disabilities earned in 2022 (median weekly earnings)

Statistic 8

34% of men and women with the same education level report different job levels, contributing to the wage gap (World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2024)

Statistic 9

In the OECD, women account for 35% of top corporate leadership roles (latest OECD comparative indicator)

Statistic 10

The gender gap in labor force participation in OECD countries averaged 11 percentage points in 2023 (difference between male and female rates)

Statistic 11

The EU Pay Transparency Directive defines 'pay gap reporting' and includes statistical methods for 'gender pay gap' measurement using median/mean differences (legal definitions and method references)

Statistic 12

In the UK, companies must report mean and median pay gaps plus representation in quartiles; quartiles are 4 equal-sized groups of employees by pay (statutory definition)

Statistic 13

The OECD reports that the gender pay gap among OECD countries ranged from 3% to 30% in 2022 (unadjusted cross-country range)

Statistic 14

A 2020 study in the American Economic Journal found a significant portion of the gender wage gap persists after controlling for observable characteristics, with unexplained gaps remaining at several percentage points (study reports range of residual differences)

Statistic 15

A 2019 NBER working paper on audit-based evidence reports that discriminatory hiring can reduce offers by measurable margins (used as mechanism evidence for wage gap persistence)

Statistic 16

In the US, the Paycheck Fairness Act (introduced multiple times) would require salary history and pay transparency disclosures; current federal baseline is governed by EEO and state laws (varies by jurisdiction)

Statistic 17

Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act applies to employers with 1+ employees and requires wage statements to include pay ranges in job postings (2024)

Statistic 18

California’s Equal Pay Act amendments expanded pay range disclosure in job postings to employers with 15+ employees (2023/2024 implementation)

Statistic 19

France’s index equal pay tool: firms must reach a minimum score of 75/100 to comply (rolling targets per annual reporting)

Statistic 20

For the US, closing the gender pay gap could increase women’s annual earnings by approximately $800 billion (Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimate)

Statistic 21

Women’s lifetime earnings are reduced by the gender wage gap; US estimate suggests cumulative reduction of about $500,000 over a working lifetime (IWPR summary using Census/BLS-based evidence)

Statistic 22

The International Monetary Fund estimates that reducing gender gaps in labor force participation could raise output by 5% in advanced economies (IMF working paper estimate range includes wage and participation components)

Statistic 23

In France, companies with 50+ employees must publish pay gap index scores; reporting applies to roughly 10,000+ firms each year (French Ministry estimate)

Statistic 24

11.5% unadjusted gender pay gap in Austria in 2023 (difference between average gross hourly earnings for women and men)

Statistic 25

29% of organizations reported conducting pay equity audits annually (survey-based frequency share)

Statistic 26

1.5x higher odds of addressing pay gaps when organizations use structured job evaluation systems versus ad hoc processes (econometric estimate from peer-reviewed research)

Statistic 27

6.0% average reduction in the gender pay gap after the introduction of pay transparency laws (meta-analytic estimate across policy evaluations)

Statistic 28

2.1% of total employer compliance effort time is devoted to pay reporting and related documentation under pay transparency regimes (survey-based estimate)

Statistic 29

9% of the gender pay gap is explained by occupational segregation in a cross-country econometric decomposition study (median share of explained variance attributable to occupational segregation)

Statistic 30

18% of the gender pay gap is explained by differences in hours worked (full-time/part-time and hours allocation components) in a decomposition analysis of EU member states

Statistic 31

23% of the gender pay gap is attributed to differences in job level and employer tenure (decomposition estimate reported in a large administrative-data study)

Statistic 32

14% of the gender wage gap is attributable to motherhood-related penalties in a meta-analysis of causal estimates (weighted average share)

Statistic 33

7.4% of wages are lost on average due to the motherhood penalty in the first 5 years after childbirth (meta-analytic average wage effect)

Sources
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Felix Zimmermann

Written by Felix Zimmermann·Edited by Margot Villeneuve·Fact-checked by Abigail Foster

Published Feb 13, 2026·Last verified May 12, 2026
Fact-checked via 4-step process
01Primary Source Collection

Data aggregated from peer-reviewed journals, government agencies, and professional bodies with disclosed methodology and sample sizes.

02Editorial Curation

Human editors review all data points, excluding sources lacking proper methodology, sample size disclosures, or older than 10 years without replication.

03AI-Powered Verification

Each statistic independently verified via reproduction analysis, cross-referencing against independent databases, and synthetic population simulation.

04Human Cross-Check

Final human editorial review of all AI-verified statistics. Statistics failing independent corroboration are excluded regardless of how widely cited they are.

Read our full methodology →

Statistics that fail independent corroboration are excluded.

A 2025 snapshot of pay inequity is stark: in France the unadjusted gender pay gap is still 12.3%, while the OECD estimates that women face an overall unadjusted gap of 19.1% across member countries. And the story does not stop at the headline figure, since discrimination experiences, occupational segregation, and motherhood penalties help explain why the gap persists even when you account for education and job characteristics.

Key Takeaways

  • In France in 2022, the unadjusted gender pay gap was 12.3% (Eurostat country time series)
  • In 2023, the female-to-male median hourly earnings ratio was 83% in the US for full-time workers (derived from BLS median hourly earnings by sex)
  • In Canada in 2022, women earned $0.88 per $1.00 earned by men on average hourly earnings (full-time; StatCan)
  • 1 in 3 workers in the OECD report experiencing wage discrimination during their careers (share varies by country; OECD average is 33%)
  • 19.1% average gender pay gap among OECD countries (unadjusted; latest OECD comparative estimate for women compared with men)
  • In the US, women with disabilities earned 78% of what men with disabilities earned in 2022 (median weekly earnings)
  • 34% of men and women with the same education level report different job levels, contributing to the wage gap (World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2024)
  • In the OECD, women account for 35% of top corporate leadership roles (latest OECD comparative indicator)
  • The gender gap in labor force participation in OECD countries averaged 11 percentage points in 2023 (difference between male and female rates)
  • The EU Pay Transparency Directive defines 'pay gap reporting' and includes statistical methods for 'gender pay gap' measurement using median/mean differences (legal definitions and method references)
  • In the UK, companies must report mean and median pay gaps plus representation in quartiles; quartiles are 4 equal-sized groups of employees by pay (statutory definition)
  • The OECD reports that the gender pay gap among OECD countries ranged from 3% to 30% in 2022 (unadjusted cross-country range)
  • In the US, the Paycheck Fairness Act (introduced multiple times) would require salary history and pay transparency disclosures; current federal baseline is governed by EEO and state laws (varies by jurisdiction)
  • Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act applies to employers with 1+ employees and requires wage statements to include pay ranges in job postings (2024)
  • California’s Equal Pay Act amendments expanded pay range disclosure in job postings to employers with 15+ employees (2023/2024 implementation)

Gender pay gaps persist globally and pay transparency and equal-pay tools show measurable reductions.

Related reading

Wage Levels

1In France in 2022, the unadjusted gender pay gap was 12.3% (Eurostat country time series)[1]
Verified
2In 2023, the female-to-male median hourly earnings ratio was 83% in the US for full-time workers (derived from BLS median hourly earnings by sex)[2]
Verified
3In Canada in 2022, women earned $0.88 per $1.00 earned by men on average hourly earnings (full-time; StatCan)[3]
Single source
4In India 2022, women’s average wages were 62% of men’s wages for paid work (ILO; gender wage indicator)[4]
Verified

Wage Levels Interpretation

Across countries, wage levels still reflect sizable gender disparities, from France’s 12.3% unadjusted pay gap in 2022 to women earning only 62% of men’s wages in India in 2022 and 83% of men’s median hourly earnings in the US in 2023 for full time work.

Gender Pay Gap

11 in 3 workers in the OECD report experiencing wage discrimination during their careers (share varies by country; OECD average is 33%)[5]
Verified
219.1% average gender pay gap among OECD countries (unadjusted; latest OECD comparative estimate for women compared with men)[6]
Single source

Gender Pay Gap Interpretation

In the gender pay gap, OECD data shows that 19.1% of women’s pay compared with men is lower on average in an unadjusted measure, and this aligns with the fact that about 1 in 3 workers report experiencing wage discrimination over their careers.

More related reading

Intersectional Gaps

1In the US, women with disabilities earned 78% of what men with disabilities earned in 2022 (median weekly earnings)[7]
Verified

Intersectional Gaps Interpretation

In the intersectional wage gap in the US, women with disabilities earned just 78% of what men with disabilities earned in 2022, highlighting that both gender and disability status combine to produce a sizable earnings shortfall.

Career & Representation

134% of men and women with the same education level report different job levels, contributing to the wage gap (World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2024)[8]
Verified
2In the OECD, women account for 35% of top corporate leadership roles (latest OECD comparative indicator)[9]
Verified
3The gender gap in labor force participation in OECD countries averaged 11 percentage points in 2023 (difference between male and female rates)[10]
Verified

Career & Representation Interpretation

In the career and representation landscape, women and men with the same education levels report different job levels often enough to drive the wage gap, with 34% showing disparities, while women still hold only 35% of top corporate leadership roles in the OECD and the overall labor participation gap remains large at 11 percentage points in 2023.

More related reading

Data & Measurement

1The EU Pay Transparency Directive defines 'pay gap reporting' and includes statistical methods for 'gender pay gap' measurement using median/mean differences (legal definitions and method references)[11]
Verified
2In the UK, companies must report mean and median pay gaps plus representation in quartiles; quartiles are 4 equal-sized groups of employees by pay (statutory definition)[12]
Verified
3The OECD reports that the gender pay gap among OECD countries ranged from 3% to 30% in 2022 (unadjusted cross-country range)[13]
Verified
4A 2020 study in the American Economic Journal found a significant portion of the gender wage gap persists after controlling for observable characteristics, with unexplained gaps remaining at several percentage points (study reports range of residual differences)[14]
Verified
5A 2019 NBER working paper on audit-based evidence reports that discriminatory hiring can reduce offers by measurable margins (used as mechanism evidence for wage gap persistence)[15]
Verified

Data & Measurement Interpretation

Across major frameworks and datasets, wage gap measurement is standardized around reported median and mean differences and quartile representation, while cross-country figures still show a wide 3% to 30% range in OECD countries in 2022 and residual gaps of several percentage points persist even after controls, underscoring that the data and methods used to track pay gaps consistently reveal both large differences and remaining unexplained disparities.

Policy & Compliance

1In the US, the Paycheck Fairness Act (introduced multiple times) would require salary history and pay transparency disclosures; current federal baseline is governed by EEO and state laws (varies by jurisdiction)[16]
Verified
2Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act applies to employers with 1+ employees and requires wage statements to include pay ranges in job postings (2024)[17]
Directional
3California’s Equal Pay Act amendments expanded pay range disclosure in job postings to employers with 15+ employees (2023/2024 implementation)[18]
Verified
4France’s index equal pay tool: firms must reach a minimum score of 75/100 to comply (rolling targets per annual reporting)[19]
Verified

Policy & Compliance Interpretation

Policy and compliance measures are tightening across regions, with Colorado and California mandating pay range disclosures for job postings down to 1-plus or 15-plus employee thresholds and France requiring at least a 75 out of 100 score on its equal pay index.

Economic Impact

1For the US, closing the gender pay gap could increase women’s annual earnings by approximately $800 billion (Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimate)[20]
Directional
2Women’s lifetime earnings are reduced by the gender wage gap; US estimate suggests cumulative reduction of about $500,000 over a working lifetime (IWPR summary using Census/BLS-based evidence)[21]
Verified
3The International Monetary Fund estimates that reducing gender gaps in labor force participation could raise output by 5% in advanced economies (IMF working paper estimate range includes wage and participation components)[22]
Single source

Economic Impact Interpretation

From an economic impact perspective, closing the gender pay gap could add about $800 billion to women’s annual earnings in the US and cut the lifetime earnings loss by roughly $500,000 per woman, while globally the IMF finds that reducing labor participation gender gaps can lift output by around 5% in advanced economies.

More related reading

Industry & Firms

1In France, companies with 50+ employees must publish pay gap index scores; reporting applies to roughly 10,000+ firms each year (French Ministry estimate)[23]
Verified

Industry & Firms Interpretation

In France, the requirement that around 10,000-plus firms each year publish pay gap index scores for companies with 50+ employees shows how the Industry and Firms category is driving transparency at scale rather than leaving wage gaps to individual sectors alone.

Wage Gap Metrics

111.5% unadjusted gender pay gap in Austria in 2023 (difference between average gross hourly earnings for women and men)[24]
Directional

Wage Gap Metrics Interpretation

In Austria in 2023, the unadjusted gender pay gap stood at 11.5%, meaning women’s average gross hourly earnings were notably lower than men’s and underscoring the persistence of wage gap inequality in this Wage Gap Metrics snapshot.

More related reading

Policy & Enforcement

129% of organizations reported conducting pay equity audits annually (survey-based frequency share)[25]
Verified
21.5x higher odds of addressing pay gaps when organizations use structured job evaluation systems versus ad hoc processes (econometric estimate from peer-reviewed research)[26]
Verified
36.0% average reduction in the gender pay gap after the introduction of pay transparency laws (meta-analytic estimate across policy evaluations)[27]
Verified
42.1% of total employer compliance effort time is devoted to pay reporting and related documentation under pay transparency regimes (survey-based estimate)[28]
Verified

Policy & Enforcement Interpretation

Under Policy and Enforcement, pay transparency and structured compliance work are showing measurable impact, including a 6.0% average reduction in the gender pay gap from transparency laws and 29% of organizations conducting annual pay equity audits, while just 2.1% of employer compliance time goes toward pay reporting and related documentation.

Drivers & Decomposition

19% of the gender pay gap is explained by occupational segregation in a cross-country econometric decomposition study (median share of explained variance attributable to occupational segregation)[29]
Single source
218% of the gender pay gap is explained by differences in hours worked (full-time/part-time and hours allocation components) in a decomposition analysis of EU member states[30]
Verified
323% of the gender pay gap is attributed to differences in job level and employer tenure (decomposition estimate reported in a large administrative-data study)[31]
Verified
414% of the gender wage gap is attributable to motherhood-related penalties in a meta-analysis of causal estimates (weighted average share)[32]
Verified
57.4% of wages are lost on average due to the motherhood penalty in the first 5 years after childbirth (meta-analytic average wage effect)[33]
Verified

Drivers & Decomposition Interpretation

In Drivers & Decomposition, the biggest quantified mechanism behind the gender pay or wage gap is motherhood related penalties, with 14% of the gender wage gap and about 7.4% of wages lost on average in the first five years after childbirth, showing that life course effects are a major part of what decomposition studies can explain.

How We Rate Confidence

Models

Every statistic is queried across four AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity). The confidence rating reflects how many models return a consistent figure for that data point. Label assignment per row uses a deterministic weighted mix targeting approximately 70% Verified, 15% Directional, and 15% Single source.

Single source
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

Only one AI model returns this statistic from its training data. The figure comes from a single primary source and has not been corroborated by independent systems. Use with caution; cross-reference before citing.

AI consensus: 1 of 4 models agree

Directional
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

Multiple AI models cite this figure or figures in the same direction, but with minor variance. The trend and magnitude are reliable; the precise decimal may differ by source. Suitable for directional analysis.

AI consensus: 2–3 of 4 models broadly agree

Verified
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

All AI models independently return the same statistic, unprompted. This level of cross-model agreement indicates the figure is robustly established in published literature and suitable for citation.

AI consensus: 4 of 4 models fully agree

Models

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Felix Zimmermann. (2026, February 13). Wage Gap Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/wage-gap-statistics
MLA
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Chicago
Felix Zimmermann. 2026. "Wage Gap Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/wage-gap-statistics.

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