Global Gender Gap 2025: A Reality Check for India

Context: 

• India has slipped to the 131st position out of 148 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2025, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

• The report highlights persistent gender inequalities in key areas such as political empowerment and economic participation, drawing attention to India's slow progress toward gender parity.

About Global Gender Gap Report 2025

• Published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF)

• Tracks and compares gender parity across countries to assess how nations are progressing toward closing gender-based gaps.

• The 19th edition of the report covers 148 economies.

• It measures gender gaps in four key dimensions:

  • Economic Participation and Opportunity

  • Educational Attainment

  • Health and Survival

  • Political Empowerment

• In 2025, the global gender gap was reported as 68.8% closed.

• At the current rate, full global parity is expected in 123 years.

• The report uses a parity score (0–100%), where 100% represents full gender equality.

• The aim is to guide public policy by identifying both progress and setbacks in gender equality.

India’s Performance in the 2025 Report

• India ranked 131st out of 148 countries, slipping from 129th position in 2024.

• India's overall parity score is 64.1%, which is one of the lowest in South Asia.

India: Sector-wise Performance

Economic Participation and Opportunity

• Score improved by 0.9 points, reaching 40.7%

• Earned income parity rose to 29.9%

Educational Attainment

• Score reached 97.1%

• Driven by better female literacy rates and increased tertiary enrolment

Health and Survival

• Improved due to better sex ratio at birth and increased healthy life expectancy

Political Empowerment

• Declined for the second consecutive year

• Female MPs dropped from 14.7% to 13.8%

• Women ministers reduced from 6.5% to 5.6%

• Indicates weakening representation of women in public leadership roles

Regional Comparison in South Asia

• Bangladesh is the best performer in South Asia, ranked 24th globally

• Bhutan: 119

• Nepal: 125

• Sri Lanka: 130

• India: 131

• Maldives: 138

• Pakistan: 148 (last globally)