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Sweden world's best country for women: ranking

The Local Sweden
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Sweden world's best country for women: ranking
Sweden is sixth best country in the world overall. Photo: Christine Olsson/TT

Sweden is seen as the best place in the world for women, at least according to a new survey.

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More than 9,000 women filled out surveys for US News & World Reports' Best Countries ranking, which lists a total of 80 countries around the world based on how closely people associate them with certain attributes.

Sweden came top in the Best Countries For Women category, much thanks to its "progressive attitudes toward gender equality", according to the report's country profile.

"The Swedish government calls gender equality one of the 'cornerstones' of the country's society. The concept is enshrined in Sweden's education system, where nearly two-thirds of all university degrees are awarded to women, and in its parental leave policies," read their description of Sweden.

Sweden regularly tops these lists – last year it was named best country in the world for girls by Save the Children, and a YouGov report from 2015 found its men and women alike have the most progressive attitudes to gender equality in the world.

However, many other studies suggest it is not by any means a perfect paradise, and some have warned that the country could be in danger of losing its pole position in the gender equality race.

Earlier this week, an organization promoting diversity in the workplace investigated a number of Sweden's biggest private equity firms – whose turnover makes up eight percent of the country's GDP – and found only 3 out of 92 top positions were held by women.

"Sweden's self-image deserves a little blow," AllBright CEO Amanda Lundeteg told The Local on Tuesday after the group released its report.

"Even if there is a certain number of countries that top those [global gender equality] lists, it's important to remember that these countries are only the best of the worst, and I think this report shows that."

Sweden was voted sixth best country overall in the Best Countries survey, down from fifth place last year, behind Switzerland, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.

It was also voted second for quality of life, sixth for entrepreneurship and ninth for cultural influence, but a measly 28 for adventure, 19 for power and 34 for heritage.

Are you a woman living in Sweden? What's your experience? E-mail [email protected].

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