The firm’s annual Women in Work Index sees the UK rise to 14th position overall out of 27 OECD countries, up four places on last year,  and its highest ranking since 2000.

The table is compiled by assessing performance in several areas, including the gender wage gap; female labour force participation rate; the gap between female and male labour force participation rates; the female unemployment rate; and the proportion of female employees who are in full-time employment.

PwC says the improvement in the UK’s performance was largely due to the strengthening economic recovery, which has driven improvements in female labour force participation (both in absolute terms and relative to men) and a reduction in female unemployment.

However, the UK still lags well behind the three Nordic countries, led by Norway,  which continue to occupy the top three positions in the Index as they have done consistently since 2000.

The Index shows that the UK is in the top 10 performing OECD countries on female participation in the labour force and performs above average on female unemployment levels, but its performance is negatively impacted due to the low proportion of women in full-time employment. The UK ranks well below the OECD average on this measure and is in 25th place out of 27 countries.

 Gaenor Bagley, head of people and executive board member at PwC, said: ‘Whilst it is positive that the UK is gaining ground, it is clear that the low number of females in full-time employment is preventing the UK from competing with the Nordic countries at the top of the index.

‘Despite the perception that flexible working helps women, our index and wider research suggests that it is still holding back women’s career progression. The reality for many flexible workers is that they have to work harder for promotion and don’t progress as quickly. The decision to go part-time is often made for short-term reasons, but unfortunately for women it often seems to have a wider, long-term negative impact.’

Bagley said that while policy changes such as the new Shared Parental Leave option which comes into force next month were important, a cultural change is also required.

‘For the UK to make real progress we first need to solve the culture challenge. We know women are confident and ambitious; they just need a workplace and society that support these aims. This often means getting the basics, such as how people are assessed and rewarded at work, right,’ Bagley said.

PwC research also shows Hungary and the US making significant progress on the Index since last year, moving up five and three positions respectively. Southern European countries, notably Greece and Italy, are towards the bottom of the table as a result of the fallout from the economic crisis, while last place is held by Korea.