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India has been ranked 131 out of 145 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index 2026. Though India’s individual score improved from a year ago, its rank remained unchanged, the WEF said on Wednesday. Within south Asia, India’s rank was lower than Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.
Iceland, Finland, and Norway retained the top three positions, respectively. Chad was the lowest ranked country, with Pakistan and Iran making up the bottom three of the 145 countries included in the index.
Globally, 69.2% of global gender gap has been closed. Global gender gap parity is still 120 years away, the WEF said.
In India, progress towards gender parity stands at 64.5%. India’s overall gains towards gender parity amount to a 4.3 percentage-point advance since 2006, mainly due to improvements in educational attainment, the WEF said.
India has a 96.6% gender parity score in educational attainment, which is lower than last year. In 2026, India maintained full parity in both secondary and tertiary enrolment and retained a near-parity score in primary education enrolment.
In economic participation and opportunity, India reported a 41.2% parity score – higher than the previous edition, but lower than its best result in 2013 of 44.6%.
“Over time, India’s scores on economic parity have varied significantly, muting its overall 20-year progress to +1.5 percentage points. Strong advances in professional and technical workers doubled parity from 26.6% in 2006 to 49.9% in 2026,” the WEF said.
Parity in labour-force participation has increased little over the past two decades, standing at 44.1% in 2026, the WEF said.
In health and survival, India’s score improved from last year to 95.6% parity. “Despite it following an upwards trajectory since 2017, in 2026, sex ratio at birth continues to stand nearly one percentage point lower than in 2006,” the WEF said.
In terms of political empowerment, India is ranked 67th in the world with 24.5% parity. “Despite this, the southern Asian economy has seen its score decline since a drop in 2019, and its overall gains in closing the political gap reduced to a 1.8 percentage point shift since 2006,” the WEF said.
India had one of the highest starting parity scores on the head-of-state indicator at 42.9% in 2006, which increased to 72.3% over the index’ first decade, reflecting many years of female leadership within the indicator’s rolling 50-year reference period. However, since 2021, the indicator’s score declined to its present 40.7%.
“Across other indicators, parity remains comparatively lower,” the WEF said.
In Parliament, the gender gap is 16.1% closed in 2026, showing an overall gain of 7 percentage points since 2006. At the ministerial level, India has made an overall advance of 2.4 percentage points, from 3.5% in 2006 to 5.9% in 2026. This marks a strong decline from the economy’s highest score of 30%, from 2019.
Kenya, Ghana, and Guatemala all climbed over 30 places in just on year, showing rapid improvement in gender parity. Meanwhile, Bangladesh saw a 55-place drop in its rank to 79 in 2026.
TOPICSgender equalityThis article was first uploaded on September sixteen, twenty twenty-six, at forty-eight minutes past nine in the night. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd