Malta has dropped 20 places since 2013 in the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said. 

He was speaking in a Women's Day event held by the PN women's movement late yesterday.

The index featured 140 countries and assessed them on the basis of employment, health services, education and participation in political life. 

Malta was down 35 places in the assessment of the wage difference between men and women because women's salaries in other countries were rising faster than in Malta, Dr Busuttil said.

This was indicative of the pressure on salaries in Malta, Dr Busuttil said.   

The position of Maltese women also deteriorated substantially in the section on participation in decision making, with Dr Busuttil saying the government had made very few appointments of women in senior positions.