By Satyaki Chakraborty
Geneva, Switzerland: The world seems to have regressed, with much of the progressive gains made over the last two decades vis-à-vis gender, sexuality, religious and linguistic freedoms, now under threat all over again. Twenty years back, the World Economic Forum (WEF) first measured the global gender gap, and even though the world is closer to parity than ever, progress remains vulnerable, with gains reversing in some areas, according to the recently published Global Gender Gap Report 2026. While women in public and corporate sectors now reach senior leadership levels more compared to 2006, they still largely underrepresented in the posts carrying the greatest economic and political influence.
The 20th edition of the WEF report, the longest-standing index of its kind, benchmarks 145 economies across four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Globally, the gender gap now stands at 69.2% closed, where 100% represents full parity, up 0.4 percentage points over the past year.
Among the 97 economies tracked since 2006, the gap has closed by 5.2 percentage points to 69.4%, the highest level recorded. Economic participation and opportunity (61.7%) and political empowerment (22.1%) are the dimensions furthest away from parity. At the current rate of progress, full parity across all measures is still 120 years away.
“Twenty years of data show that gender parity is achievable. Economies at every income level have made progress, so the barrier is not a lack of resources,” stated Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “Parity is a foundation for growth and competitiveness, but it is not inevitable. To accelerate, governments and employers need to learn from the policies that work and apply them faster. A new economy demands a new approach to talent,” she added.
Iceland leads in the report’s rankings for the 17th consecutive year, with 93% of the gender gap closed, and remains the only country to have closed more than 90% of its gap. Finland (87.2%) and Norway (85.7%) hold second and third for the third year running. Namibia (84.5%) climbed four places to fourth, the highest-ranked country in Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by the United Kingdom (84.2%), New Zealand (82.8%), Sweden (82.3%), Australia (81.9%), Germany (81.7%) and Ireland (81.4%). Australia entered the top 10 for the first time. Four economies have appeared in every top 10 since 2006: Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Progress has been noted incrementally. Improvement peaked before the pandemic, when 76% of tracked economies recorded gains, before widespread setbacks. Since 2024, more than half of indexed economies have regained momentum. The biggest climbers in this year’s ranking are Kenya (65th, up 33 places), Ghana (56th, up 32), Guatemala (50th, up 31), Angola (87th, up 30) and Czechia (77th, up 25). The economies that have progressed the most in closing their gender gaps since 2006, each closing at least 12 percentage points of their gap, are Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Iceland, Mexico, Namibia and Nepal.
Nearly every economy tracked since 2006 has improved, and the first decade of the index delivered faster gains than the second. Political empowerment has gained the most ground in the last 20 years, up 8 percentage points among the economies tracked throughout. In 2006, there was one woman minister for every 8.1 men; today it is one for every 4.3. In parliaments, the ratio has moved from one woman for every 5.6 men to one for every three or so.
Europe reclaims the top regional position with 75.7% of its gender gap closed, having narrowed it by 7 percentage points since 2006. Seven of the global top 10 performers across the index are European. The region leads the world in political empowerment (37%), where the parity score measured at head-of-state level has tripled since 2006.
Northern America ranks second at 75.2%, slipping 0.6 percentage points from last year and losing the top regional spot as Canada improves its score and the score of the United States declines. The region leads globally in economic participation and opportunity (77.1%) and educational attainment (100%). Its political empowerment score fell 3.3 percentage points, driven mainly by lower ministerial representation.
Latin America and the Caribbean holds third at 74.5% and leads the world in health and survival (97.7%). The region has the fastest long-term trajectory of any region, though it is still only on course to close its gap in 60 years at the current rate of progress. It has narrowed its gender gap by 8.6 percentage points since 2006, the largest improvement of any region.
Eastern Asia and the Pacific rises to fourth at 70.3%, with New Zealand and Australia both in the global top 10. The region records the second-highest economic participation and opportunity score (71.4%). Central Asia ranks fifth at 70.0%. The region has improved by 2.9 points since 2006 and is projected to be the last to reach parity, based on the current pace of progress.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks sixth at 68.8%, up 1.6 percentage points from last year, and shows the widest variation of any region, with Namibia fourth in the world. Its strongest long-term gain is parity among legislators, senior officials and managers, up 28.7 percentage points since 2006.
Southern Asia ranks seventh at 64.5% and remains the lowest-scoring region in economic participation and opportunity (40.9%). It has recorded the largest educational gain of any region since 2006, up 15 percentage points, with almost all economies now at parity in tertiary enrolment. Middle East and Northern Africa ranks eighth at 62.5%, improving by 0.2 percentage points from last year. The educational gender gap has narrowed to under 3%, while parity in political empowerment remains the lowest of any region at 11.5%.
Data from the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law project shows governments significantly broadened the legal frameworks related to gender parity in past decades, with a particular boom in activity occurring in the early millennium. While 96% of reforms have expanded legal rights for women worldwide, regions have followed differing reform trajectories over time, reflecting context-specific moments and reform priorities. Overall, Europe, Northern America, and Latin America and the Caribbean enforced much of their reform activity between the 1990s and the 2000s. Middle East and Northern Africa had a later start yet progressively increased its reform activity until becoming the most reform-intensive region in the current decade. (IPA Service)
