UK lagging behind Rwanda and the Philippines in gender equality
The UK is lagging behind countries including Rwanda and the Philippines for gender equality.
The country only ranks 20th on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) index of nations - a slide from 9th position in 2006.
But the United States and Australia are even further behind at 45th and 46th place respectively.
The score is based on the gender gap in key areas including the economy, politics, education and health.
In contrast, Rwanda has the highest share of women in parliament globally at 64%.
While the Philippines scored full marks on a measure of the birth ratio and life expectancy of women.
However, it is estimated there will not be global economic gender parity for another 170 years - an increase on last year's estimate of 118 years.
Jemima Olchawski, head of policy and insight at the Fawcett Society, said: "This report busts the myth that gender inequality is somehow natural or inevitable and highlights how varied performance on closing gender gaps is, across the world, but also within Western Europe.
"It's unacceptable that Britain is languishing at 53rd in the world for economic participation, is only 24th for political empowerment and performs below average overall compared to our region.
"The moral case for gender equality should be enough alone to motivate us to speed up the pace of change.
"But with evidence suggesting that improving gender equality could add £150 billion to our GDP it's also clear that we simply can't afford to wait."
The top 10 countries in the world for gender equality are:
To see the full list click here