Two southern African states - South Africa and Lesotho - have leapt into top 10 ranking of countries where women face the least discrimination, the World Economic Forum said Tuesday.

South Africa sprang from 22 to number six, while Lesotho climbed from 16 to number 10 in the WEF's Global Gender Gap Index which measures economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, health and survival of women in 134 countries.

"The latest data reveal that South Africa makes significant improvements in female labour force participation in addition to gains for women in parliament and in ministerial positions in the new government," said the WEF.

South Africa was ranked first in the world for employment opportunities for professional and technical females workers, enrolment in primary education, secondary education and tertiary education. The country has the second best ratio in the world of women in parliament, and the fifth best ratio of women in ministerial positions.

Lesotho also climbed into the top 10 "driven by large gains in the labour force participation of women and narrowing wage gaps", it added.

Overall, Nordic countries continue to offer women the most equal treatment compared to men, with Iceland ranking number one, followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden.

For more information, visit the World Economic Forum website. The South African country profile can be downloaded here.

Sapa-AFP