women and trade
Research & Data
The WTO looks at trade and gender issues from a legal and economic perspective, placing a particular emphasis on the impact of trade on women's lives and on how trade policies can support women. The WTO also provides data and reports on the cross cutting nature of gender issues in trade-related matters and on how non-trade issues impact women’s ability to integrate into the global economy.
Data collection
The WTO is actively engaged in gathering data on trade and gender.
Between 2019 and 2020, the WTO undertook three regional surveys in East Africa, South Asia and Latin America on women entrepreneurs to assess constraints they face in exporting goods and services and to assess their knowledge gaps on trade rules. In 2022, the WTO published two databases aimed at supporting members' work in gender-responsive trade policy-making:
Annually, the WTO prepares a report highlighting key statistics regarding female leadership in the WTO, looking at both the WTO membership and the Secretariat. The report outlines the current gender breakdown in the WTO.
Information on data collection through the Aid for Trade Monitoring and Evaluation Exercise is available here.
Publications, papers and reports
- WTO research papers on women and trade
- WTO publications and reports on women and trade
- Other publications on women and trade co-authored by WTO staff
WTO Gender Research Hub
Through the WTO Gender Research Hub, the WTO intends to further deepen the understanding of women’s economic empowerment through trade, fostering research and data collection efforts. The Hub serves as a global information-sharing and knowledge-gathering platform for informed policy-making. It also aims to bring visibility to work on trade and gender and to promote the topic as a recognised field of research and expertise.
More information here.