Ingka Group Reaffirms Commitment to Zero Gender Pay Gap

September 18, 2025  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Industry   

Ulrika Biesèrt, chief people & culture officer, Ingka Group says, “We have made meaningful progress on pay equity and gender balance in leadership. Reducing the gender pay gap shows our long-term commitment to gender equal pay. Our IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people, and to us, a better everyday is a more equal everyday. We are proud of the progress but know there’s still much work to be done. There should be no pay gaps that are not explained by performance, competence, or legal requirements. That’s our commitment, and we will continue working towards it.”

Committed to closing pay gaps  

Ingka Group remains committed to reducing pay gaps further, expanding opportunities for all co-workers, and ensuring everyone has the chance to be seen, heard, and rewarded. Leaders across Ingka Group are expected to actively contribute to creating more gender-balanced and inclusive teams, and to monitor progress as part of their yearly responsibilities. As part of this commitment, Ingka Group has been a member of the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) for several years, an organization which brings together governments, employers, and international organizations to accelerate progress towards equal pay for work of equal value globally. 

This work is part of a broader commitment to creating a fair, inclusive, and people-positive workplace, from investing in equal pay and growing talent through leadership programs like Bloom, a leadership development program, and a skills-based development approach. Recent milestones reflect that strategy in action: 

Achieved 50/50 gender balance in management globally 

Gender balance is a board-level priority in every market 

45.8% of country CEOs are women (14 out of 31 markets) 

Bias-reducing recruitment practices in place (e.g. removing salary history questions) 

Structural support measures introduced in many markets (e.g. childcare, menopause support) 

Ingka Group conducts annual gender equal pay assessments*** covering 100% of co-workers in every market where it operates. During these assessments, each group of men and women performing work of equal value is reviewed if a pay difference of at least 5% is identified. Where gender pay gaps cannot be explained by competence, performance, or legal requirements, actions are taken to close them.

The overall gender pay gap is calculated by comparing the average gross hourly earnings of all women and men across the organization, regardless of role, level, or function. This approach follows the EU standard definition of the unadjusted gender pay gap, also used by Eurostat.

“At IKEA Austria, we’re proud that our gender pay gap is already very small, in fact slightly in favor of women at around 0.7%. We are continuously working towards equality and are convinced that consistent measures for pay equity are effective and lead to real change. But equality is never just about the numbers”, says, FangFang Li, CEO and CSO of IKEA Austria. “For us, it’s about creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, supported, and able to grow. That’s why we see this result not as the finish line, but as a strong foundation to continue building an even more inclusive and fair IKEA.”

These efforts reflect Ingka Group’s long-term commitment to gender equality, inclusive leadership, and fair income that supports a better everyday life.  

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*The reported 4% gender pay gap is based on Ingka Group’s financial year 2024 (FY24), covering the period from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024. 

**Eurostat – Gender pay gap statistics (2023) – https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Gender_pay_gap_statistics 

***The assessment covers all Ingka Group part-time or full-time co-workers with temporary and permanent contracts. It excludes the following groups: seasonal co-workers, co-workers with non-comparable salary setting (for example due to being on assignment), co-workers of Ingka Holding B.V. (holding company) and acquired companies, co-workers not receiving a salary during the assessment period (for example because they joined the business in the month prior to the assessment date) and co-workers for whom we don’t have information on gender.