The latest Global Gender Gap index from the World Economic Forum (WEF) reveals a mixed picture for India. Despite a steady rise in its economic parity score over the past four years, India has dropped two places to 129th position, while Iceland continues to dominate the rankings, as reported on June 12.
In the South Asian context, India’s standing is concerning, as it trails behind Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, securing the fifth position in the region. Pakistan, notably, ranks at the bottom in South Asia and second-last globally, just above Sudan, which anchors the index at 146th place.
India’s performance on economic parity remains troubling, as it is listed among the nations with the lowest levels of gender parity in estimated earned income, alongside Bangladesh, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco. These countries have not surpassed the 30% threshold in gender parity for earned income.
Conversely, India shows significant progress in specific areas. It boasts the highest gender parity in secondary education enrolment within the region and ranks 65th globally for political empowerment of women. Particularly noteworthy is India’s 10th position in the parity of years with female and male heads of state over the past five decades.
India, with its population exceeding 1.4 billion, has closed 64.1% of its gender gap in 2024. The slight decline from last year’s 127th rank is attributed to marginal decreases in ‘Educational Attainment’ and ‘Political Empowerment,’ even as ‘Economic Participation’ and ‘Opportunity’ scores saw modest improvements. The upward trend in India’s economic parity score over the past four years is a positive indicator.
However, there is room for improvement in political representation. Despite scoring within the top 10 on the head-of-state indicator in the Political Empowerment subindex, women’s representation at the federal level remains limited, with only 6.9% in ministerial positions and 17.2% in parliament.
On a global scale, the WEF reports that 68.5% of the gender gap has been closed, yet at the current rate, full gender parity remains 134 years away—equivalent to five generations. The past year saw a mere 0.1 percentage point improvement in the global gender gap.
WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi stresses the urgency of the situation: “Despite some bright spots, the slow and incremental gains highlighted in this year’s Global Gender Gap Report underscore the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to achieving gender parity, particularly in economic and political spheres. We cannot wait until 2158 for parity. The time for decisive action is now.”
The top five countries in the gender gap index are Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden. The United Kingdom holds the 14th position, while the United States ranks 43rd.