Context: 

Recently, India ranked 131st out of 148 countries in the 19^th edition of the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 down from 129th in 2024. 

Global Gender Gap Index 

• It is the annual publication of the World Economic Forum. Since launching in 2006, it is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time.
• The index lies between 0 and 1, with 1 denoting complete parity. The gender gap is the distance from full parity.

Parameters: 

• Economic Participation and Opportunity
• Educational Attainment
• Health and Survival
• Political Empowerment

Key Findings of the Report

• According to the 2025 index covering 148 economies, the gender gap has nearly closed in Health and Survival (96.2%) and Educational Attainment (95.1%), while wider gaps remain in Economic Participation (61.0%) and Political Empowerment (22.9%). 
• Although women make up 41.2% of the global workforce, they hold only 28.8% of leadership roles, highlighting a significant disparity at the top.
• Iceland remains the world’s most gender-equal economy for the 16th year, closing 92.6% of the gender gap, the only country to surpass 90% followed by Finland, Norway, the UK, and New Zealand.

India-Specific Findings

• India ranked 131 out of 148 countries in 2025, slipping two spots from 129 in 2024, despite a 0.3-point improvement. 
• With a parity score of 64.1%, it remains among the lowest-ranked in South Asia.
• In Economic Participation and Opportunity, India’s score has improved by +0.9 percentage points to 40.7 percent. 
• The parity in estimated income rises from 28.6 percent to 29.9 percent, positively impacting the subindex score.
• In educational attainment, the report said, India scored 97.1 percent, reflecting positive shifts in female shares for literacy and tertiary education enrolment, which resulted in positive score improvements for the subindex as a whole.
• India saw a 0.6-point drop in political empowerment, with women’s representation in Parliament falling to 13.8%  from 14.7% and ministerial roles to 5.6% from 6.5% in 2025—both declining for the second consecutive year.