Cook IslandsKnown Strengths, Unknown Gaps
The two measured inputs place the Cook Islands close to parity on participation and management, in the top group of the series on those indicators.
The Cook Islands' provisional GEVI is 48.2 (90% interval 37.8 to 56.8), 11th of 15. Two inputs are measured, and both are good news: women's labour force participation is 67.9% against 74.5% for men, and women hold 46.7% of management jobs. The other 10 of 13 inputs are imputed (blind-spot ratio 0.77), so the score is a placeholder.
Source: the attached country paper. Animation reveals reported measures; it does not show change over time.
Abstract
The Cook Islands' provisional GEVI is 48.2 (90% interval 37.8 to 56.8), 11th of 15. Two inputs are measured, and both are good news: women's labour force participation is 67.9% against 74.5% for men, and women hold 46.7% of management jobs. The other 10 of 13 inputs are imputed (blind-spot ratio 0.77), so the score is a placeholder.
The two measured inputs place the Cook Islands close to parity on participation and management, in the top group of the series on those indicators. The low index comes entirely from the imputed institutional and political inputs, which are set at the series median, so the result says little about the Cook Islands' own institutions. The 2023-24 survey also reports informal employment of 39.8% of jobs and a very low unemployment rate (0.8%), which suggests a labour market where participation is high but a large informal share may hold women's earnings out of administrative view.
Priorities include Publish the 2023-24 survey tables by sex (employment status, informality, wages) so I2, I3, I4 and I6 become measured; Report women in parliament and cabinet after the August 2026 election so I11 and I12 are measured; Add owner sex to the business register to replace the imputed I7.
Download the paper PDFHeadline result
The Cook Islands' provisional GEVI is 48.2 (90% interval 37.8 to 56.8), 11th of 15. Two inputs are measured, and both are good news: women's labour force participation is 67.9% against 74.5% for men, and women hold 46.7% of management jobs. The other 10 of 13 inputs are imputed (blind-spot ratio 0.77), so the score is a placeholder.
90% interval 37.8–56.8.
Rank 11 of 15 · Blind-spot ratio 0.77.
versus D2 at 0.881
How the index is built
Dimensions are simple means of their indicators. The index uses a weighted geometric mean. Imputed inputs use the series medians; these are placeholders, not observed country outcomes.
| Dimension | Score D | Weight w | D^w |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Labour participation | 0.813 | 0.25 | 0.9496 |
| D2 Job quality and seniority | 0.881 | 0.20 | 0.9749 |
| D3 Enterprise and legal rights | 0.569 | 0.20 | 0.8932 |
| D4 Institutional visibility | 0.260 | 0.15 | 0.8170 |
| D5 Statistical and political voice | 0.185 | 0.20 | 0.7134 |
= 48.2
Product of the five terms = 0.4820, so GEVI = 100 × 0.4820 = 48.2, rank 11 of 15. Values are rounded as reported in the source.
Uncertainty and rank sensitivity
The simulation samples each score with the standard deviation of its grade (2 grade A at 0.02, 1 grade B at 0.06, 10 grade C at 0.12). Median 47.6, 5th to 95th percentile 37.8 to 56.8, the widest interval in the series. Under random weights alone the rank has a median of 11 with a range of 8 to 13.
Source and indicator caveats
The labour figure is from the 2023-24 Labour Force Survey (SPC summary); the management share is from the 2016 Census as reported in the UN Women Cook Islands brief. The 2021 Census reports 65.1% for women and 73.1% for men, a parity of 0.890, and confirms the direction of the survey figure. The Cook Islands' share of women in parliament was not found in the sources used, so I12 is imputed.
Where the gap is
Each scenario raises one dimension to full parity, holding the others fixed.
| Dimension raised to 1.0 | GEVI | Gain |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | 50.8 | +2.6 |
| D2 | 49.4 | +1.2 |
| D3 | 54.0 | +5.8 |
| D4 | 59.0 | +10.8 |
| D5 | 67.6 | +19.4 |
Because the two measured labour and management inputs are already near parity (0.911 and 0.934), the only meaningful measured lever is data coverage: I13 from 0.167 to 0.750 gives 58.3, +10.1.
Scenario values and gains are reproduced as printed; rounding can affect the subtraction of displayed values. These are conditional model scenarios, not forecasts or causal estimates.
Reading the result
The two measured inputs place the Cook Islands close to parity on participation and management, in the top group of the series on those indicators. The low index comes entirely from the imputed institutional and political inputs, which are set at the series median, so the result says little about the Cook Islands' own institutions. The 2023-24 survey also reports informal employment of 39.8% of jobs and a very low unemployment rate (0.8%), which suggests a labour market where participation is high but a large informal share may hold women's earnings out of administrative view.
Priorities and practical use
The priorities connect the index to actions and named users.
Publish the 2023-24 survey tables by sex (employment status, informality, wages) so I2, I3, I4 and I6 become measured.
Report women in parliament and cabinet after the August 2026 election so I11 and I12 are measured.
Add owner sex to the business register to replace the imputed I7.
Who uses the data, and for what decision?
| Data product | Primary user | Decision it informs | Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey tables by sex and informality (I1, I4, I6) | Statistics office, revenue authority | Whether informal earners, who are 39.8% of jobs, are outside the tax and social-security base, and whether women are over-represented there | Each survey |
| Business register with owner sex (I7) | Registry, development agency | Target business support and test whether women-owned firms use incentives at the same rate | Annual |
| Women in parliament and cabinet after the 2026 election (I11, I12) | Parliament, women's ministry | Baseline for a representation strategy; both are currently imputed | After the election |
| WBL coverage (I8, I9, I10) | Justice ministry | Measured legal scores in place of medians | Next WBL round |
Use the Cook Islands' result as evidence of strength on participation and management, not as a ranking; the interval spans 19 points.
Series: GEVI Research Series · Paper 14 · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23211050