This post examines the number of WZ players titles compared to the whole of the ICCF, by looking at the list for 2020/2. The comparison shows that the WZ has a very similar profile of ICCF titles than the whole of the ICCF combined.
There is a similar level of GM, SIM, IM, CCM and CCE in the WZ with only the SIM difference being 3%. The other categories are only different by 1%. The only exception to this is the non titled players (NA) that are 63% for the WZ compared to the whole ICCF that are 55%, a difference of 8%. Below is the table with the actual numbers and percentages.
I ran some chi square tests and there is significant difference between the number of GM’s, SIM’s and LIM’s (higher in rest of ICCF) and also the number of untitled players (row NA) which are higher in the WZ. The numbers are close however as you pointed out which is an accomplishment since zone 1 players have many more title opportunities than any other zone.
Regretfully this list is not complete, perhaps we should also include those in an administrive position, as well as IA’s and TO’s, to obtain a complete picture of the Zone’s health.