The study highlighted that full-time employment has not grown since 2012 and remained at 26% in 2013 across the globe. The P2P employment rates have remained stagnant since 2012 with 34% for men and 18% for women.
Sweden and Iceland are the only two countries in the world with a P2P rate higher than 50% ( Sweden at 54% and Iceland at 50%) while the rate for men is 50% or higher in 11 countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Russia.
Regional Payroll to Population Employment Rates, by Gender
| Global | Men | Women | Women’s deficit |
| 34% | 18% | -16 | |
| Middle East and North Africa | 31% | 8% | -23 |
| South Asia | 33% | 9% | -24 |
| Latin America and Carribean | 36% | 19% | -17 |
| European Union | 43% | 28% | -15 |
| East Asia | 35% | 21% | -14 |
| Non-EU Europe | 34% | 22% | -12 |
| Former Soviet Union | 48% | 37% | -11 |
| North America | 48% | 38% |
-10 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 14% | 8% | -6 |
Of those in the workforce, women lag behind men most in full-time employment in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia and East Asia.
The unemployment gap also continues to be worst in MENA, where women are nearly three times as likely to be unemployed.
The study was based on more than 136,000 interviews across 136 countries in 2013. Gallup's P2P metric estimates the percentage of the adult population aged 15 and older -- not just those currently in the workforce -- who are employed full time for an employer for at least 30 hours per week .