New Delhi, June 14: India has slipped two spots to 131st out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2025, registering an overall gender parity score of 64.4%. The drop in ranking, from 129th place in 2024, was attributed to the improved performance of other economies, despite a modest gain of 0.3 percentage points in India’s absolute score.
The annual report, released on Thursday, noted that India experienced a decline in the political empowerment subindex, with female representation in Parliament falling from 14.7% to 13.8%, and women in ministerial roles decreasing from 6.5% to 5.6%. The subindex score dropped for the second consecutive year, moving further away from the 2019 peak of 30%.
The Index measures gender parity across four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
India’s ranking in economic participation remains low, placing it among the bottom five countries globally—alongside Sudan, Pakistan, Iran, and Egypt. Despite this, India recorded a slight improvement in this category, with a score increase of 0.9 percentage points to 40.7%. Parity in estimated earned income rose from 28.6% to 29.9%, while labour-force participation among women remained stagnant at 45.9%, matching the country’s highest recorded level.
The report highlighted that women in these low-ranking countries continue to face limited access to economic resources, holding less than one-third of earned income compared to men and occupying minimal senior roles in the workplace.
India performed significantly better in educational attainment, scoring 97.1% due to improved female literacy and higher enrolment in tertiary education. In the health and survival subindex, parity also improved, driven by gains in sex ratio at birth and healthy life expectancy. However, the report noted that parity was maintained largely due to an overall reduction in life expectancy for both men and women.
Globally, the average gender gap score for 2025 stood at 68.8%. Iceland retained the top spot for the 16th consecutive year, closing more than 90% of its gender gap. In South Asia, Bangladesh ranked 24th, followed by China (103), Bhutan (119), Nepal (125), Sri Lanka (130), and Pakistan at the bottom of the list in 148th place.
The report observed that while India showed some gains in economic and health-related metrics, persistent gaps in political and economic representation continue to weigh down its overall gender parity ranking.
