The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released its annual report on gender equality around the world, and it’s not good news for women. The global gender gap – which covers politics, education, health and economics – has widened for the first time in 10 years, largely as a result of internationally “declining gender equality in the workplace and political representation”.

The UK came 15th out of 144 countries in the global rankings for gender equality, a climb of five places since last year (when we came 20th).

This jump was partly due to the increase in female representation in politics seen after this year’s general election. Women currently hold 32% of parliamentary seats in the UK, the highest proportion of female politicians in British history.

However, while the UK’s 2017 ranking it its highest in six years, it still represents an overall drop in gender equality. When the WEF launched the Global Gender Gap report in 2006, the UK was rated 9th – meaning we’ve slid six places in the rankings in 11 years.

Increasing the level of gender equality in the UK wouldn’t just be good for, you know, women. According to the report, achieving gender parity would also have significant economic benefits, adding an estimated £188bn to the nation’s GDP.

This is where the UK ranks globally for gender equality