Two decades on, India remains 131st in global gender parity index

India has retained its 131st position among 145 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index 2026, despite a marginal improvement in its overall gender parity score.

The country has closed 64.5 per cent of its gender gap, below the global average of 69.2 per cent, according to the report released on September 16. India’s overall parity has improved by 4.3 percentage points since the index was first published in 2006, with gains in educational attainment accounting for much of the progress.

Only 14 countries ranked below India in the 2026 index. These include Papua New Guinea, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Mali, Algeria and Congo. Chad was placed last, with Iran and Pakistan completing the bottom three.

Iceland retained the top position after closing 93 per cent of its gender gap, making it the only country to cross the 90 per cent mark. Finland and Norway followed in second and third place.

India recorded a gender parity score of 41.2 per cent in the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, an improvement of 0.5 percentage points from the previous edition. However, the score remains 3.5 percentage points below India's peak of 44.7 per cent recorded in 2013.

The country has made substantial progress in the representation of women among professional and technical workers. Parity in this category rose from 26.6 per cent in 2006 to 49.9 per cent in 2026.

Representation among legislators, senior officials and managers has also improved by 10 percentage points since 2006, but remains low at 13.1 per cent.

Gender parity in labour-force participation stood at 44.1 per cent in 2026, showing only a marginal improvement over the past two decades.

India recorded 96.6 per cent parity in educational attainment, although the score slipped by 0.5 percentage points from the previous year.

The country also improved its score in Health and Survival, reaching 95.6 per cent parity. However, the WEF noted that India's sex ratio at birth in 2026 remained nearly one percentage point below its 2006 level, despite an improving trend since 2017.

Political Empowerment was India's highest-ranked subindex, with the country closing 24.5 per cent of its gender gap and ranking 67th globally.

India's score on the head-of-state indicator had risen from 42.9 per cent in 2006 to 72.3 per cent during the index's first decade, reflecting women's leadership over the rolling 50-year period assessed by the indicator. However, the score has declined since 2021 and stood at 40.7 per cent in 2026.

Women held a 16.1 per cent share of parliamentary representation covered by the index in 2026, an overall improvement of seven percentage points since 2006.

At the ministerial level, India's parity score rose from 3.5 per cent in 2006 to 5.9 per cent in 2026. The figure, however, remains well below the country's highest score of 30 per cent recorded in 2019.

Globally, 69.2 per cent of the gender gap has been closed, an improvement of 0.4 percentage points over the past year. The WEF said nearly every economy tracked since 2006 has made progress, but estimated that it could still take 120 years to achieve full gender parity.

The report said political empowerment has recorded the largest gains since 2006, although progress in the area has been reversing since 2016. The proportion of economies headed by women peaked in 2022 before falling back to levels last seen in 2016.

Women now occupy 19.1 per cent of chief executive officer positions globally, while only one in 10 ministerial portfolios held by women is classified as having strong influence, according to the report.

The gender gap is also visible in emerging sectors. Women account for fewer than one in five AI engineers and remain underrepresented across levels of employment in AI companies.

Southern Asia was the lowest-scoring region for Economic Participation and Opportunity.

The 20th edition of the Global Gender Gap Index assessed 145 economies across four areas — Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.

Namibia moved up four places to fourth, becoming the highest-ranked country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The United Kingdom, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, Germany and Ireland completed the top 10. Australia entered the top 10 for the first time.

Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden are the only four countries to have featured in the top 10 in every edition since 2006.

“Twenty years of data show that gender parity is achievable,” WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said, adding that economies at every income level had made progress.

She said governments and employers need to identify and implement policies that have worked elsewhere at a faster pace, particularly as changing economic conditions create new demands for talent.