Global Gender Gap 2024 - India slips two places, while Iceland regains top spot
India has dropped two places to 129th in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index, with Iceland maintaining its top position, according to the rankings published on June 12.
In South Asia, India ranked fifth, trailing behind Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, with Pakistan placed at the bottom of the regional list. Globally, Sudan was the lowest-ranked country among 146 nations, while Pakistan fell three places to 145th.
India is among the economies with the least economic gender parity, joining Bangladesh, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco—all of which have less than 30% gender parity in estimated earned income.
Despite this, India demonstrated significant gender parity in secondary education enrollment and performed well in political empowerment, ranking 65th globally. Notably, India ranked 10th in terms of the number of years with female/male heads of state over the past 50 years.
With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, India has closed 64.1% of its gender gap in 2024. The decline from 127th place last year is attributed primarily to minor declines in the 'Educational Attainment' and 'Political Empowerment' parameters, although there were slight improvements in 'Economic Participation' and 'Opportunity' scores. The WEF noted a positive trend in India’s economic parity score over the past four years.
"In the Political Empowerment subindex, India is within the top 10 for the head-of-state indicator. However, representation of women at the federal level remains low, with only 6.9% in ministerial positions and 17.2% in Parliament," the WEF stated.
Globally, the WEF reported that 68.5% of the gender gap has been closed, but at the current rate, it will take 134 years—equivalent to five generations—to achieve full gender parity. The gender gap has narrowed by just 0.1 percentage points since last year.
WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi emphasized the need for urgent action, noting, "Despite some bright spots, the slow and incremental gains in this year's Global Gender Gap Report highlight 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," she added. The top five countries in the rankings are Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden. The United Kingdom ranked 14th, while the United States was 43rd.
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