Women in the Western Balkans are employed at significantly lower rates than men and continue to face persistent pay gaps, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) said on Saturday, calling for faster reforms to improve gender equality in the region’s labour markets.
Marking International Women’s Day, the RCC said data from the Western Balkans Six (WB6) – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – show that on average only 51% of women are employed, compared with around 70% of men, leaving a gap of nearly 20 percentage points.
The disparity is almost double the gender employment gap recorded across the European Union.
Women’s labour market participation also remains comparatively low. The activity rate among women in the WB6 stands at just under 55%, well below the EU average of about 70%, highlighting structural barriers that continue to limit women’s economic participation.
“Across the Western Balkans Six, women are highly educated and increasingly ambitious in shaping their professional futures, yet structural barriers still prevent many from translating their potential into equal participation in the labour market,” said Ratka Babić, leader of the RCC’s Employment and Social Affairs Platform 3 (ESAP 3) project.
She said closing the employment gap requires more than legal commitments, including measures such as improved childcare services, stronger labour market programmes and greater opportunities for reskilling and lifelong learning.
“Investing in women’s economic participation is not only a matter of fairness but also a driver of stronger and more resilient economies across the region,” Babić added.
Young women face particularly difficult prospects. In the WB6, only 18% of young women are employed, while about 28% are unemployed, nearly twice the average rate in the European Union.
Women are also more likely to work in low-paid, informal or part-time jobs and remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sectors as well as in leadership roles.
Pay inequality remains another challenge. The gender pay gap in the region is estimated at between 9% and 12%, although analysts say the real gap may be larger due to high levels of informal employment and limited wage transparency.
According to a joint analysis by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the RCC, women’s pensions in the Western Balkans are on average around 40% lower than those of men, reflecting years of lower earnings, career interruptions and informal work.
Women in the region also continue to carry the majority of unpaid care and domestic responsibilities, while limited access to affordable childcare and long-term care services remains a major barrier to full-time employment.
Despite these challenges, women outperform men in tertiary education attainment, with roughly 40% completing higher education. However, participation in adult learning programmes remains low at about 5%, compared with nearly 12% in the EU, limiting opportunities for career advancement and reskilling.
The RCC said it is working with governments in the region through initiatives such as the Employment and Social Affairs Platform 3 (ESAP 3) to strengthen labour market policies and promote more inclusive economic growth.
International Women’s Day should serve as a reminder that gender equality must move beyond policy commitments and translate into concrete reforms, the organisation said, adding that sustained regional cooperation and adequate funding are essential to ensure women fully benefit from economic development in the Western Balkans.