Women will play a significant role in the global economy over the next 10 years with about 1 billion females set to enter the workforce - about the same size as the population of India or China.
Booz's survey "Empowering the Third Billion: Women and the World of Work in 2012" ranks female access to education, equal pay, childcare and anti-discrimination policies in 128 countries.
New Zealand women were the 5th most economically empowered, behind Australia, which topped that index, and Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Yemen was the worst nation in the world in terms of empowerment of women, leading other countries such as Pakistan, Sudan, Chad and Syria.
"Positive steps intended to economically empower women not only contribute to the immediate goals of mobilising the female workforce, but also lead to broader gains for all citizens in such areas as economic prosperity, health, early childhood, development, security, and freedom," Booz said in its report.