Female labor force in the Muslim world

Female participation and advancement in majority Muslim countries, or nations in which more than 50% of the population identifies as an adherent of the Islamic faith, has traditionally been areas of controversy. Several Western nations such as the United States and Western Europe have criticised majority Muslim nations for the lack of involvement and opportunity for women in the private sector.

Low levels of female labor participation, large wage gaps by gender, and few female executives in large companies in majority Muslim nations are common criticisms of these nations. Accordingly, significant data has been gathered by global institutions about female workers in majority Muslim nations to test these cultural beliefs. Development economists and multinational organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, and the International Labour Organization, have gathered significant amounts of data to study the labor contributions of and commercial opportunities for women.

There are fifty-one countries in the world in which more than 50% of the population identify as Muslims. These countries spread from North Africa, to the Middle East, to the Balkans and Central Asia, to Southeast Asia. While many nations contain a strong Muslim presence, majority Muslim nations, by definition, have more Muslims as citizens than non-Muslims. Not all majority Muslim states, however, have Islam as their established religion. Turkey, for example, is a prominent Muslim country in which 99% of the population follows some form of Islam. However, there is no official religion. The state is secular. Nigeria is also a majority Muslim country which is officially secular.

Most majority Muslim nations, however, recognize Islam as the official state religion. Furthermore, many states identify a specific derivative of the Islamic faith as their official religion. For example, sunni Islam is the official state religion of: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Somalia, and the United Arab Emirates.Shia Islam is the official religion of Iran, which is a theocracy. Some minority Islamic sects are official state religions as well.Ibadi, a minority school within Islam, is the official religion of Oman.

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