About the Global Gender Gap Report 2025

The World Economic Forum recently released the Global Gender Gap Report 2025, which assesses gender disparities in 148 countries across economic participation, education, health, and political empowerment. In 2025, the global average for gender parity reached 68.8%, representing modest progress from 2024, yet insufficient as, at this pace, it will take another 123 years to fully close the gap.

Iceland remains the leader for the 16th consecutive year, achieving 92.6% gender parity, followed by Finland, Norway, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. Conversely, Pakistan ranks last, with only 56.7% parity, notably lagging alongside countries such as Sudan, Chad, and Iran.

The "Economic Participation and Opportunity" dimension remains particularly challenging. Globally, only about 61% of this gap has been closed, requiring an estimated 135 years to achieve full equality at the current rate. Regionally, North America leads with 76% of the economic gap closed, whereas the Middle East and North Africa (42.4%) and South Asia (40.6%) report the lowest figures. Botswana stands out positively with 87.3% economic parity, while countries like Chad and Pakistan rank among the lowest globally.

Despite historical gains, such as the increased presence of women in executive roles (+17.5 percentage points since 2006), substantial challenges remain. Women continue to be underrepresented in strategic economic sectors and are frequently concentrated in informal, lower-paid activities. Additionally, the lack of effective family care policies significantly limits women's economic advancement.

Latin America notably advanced since 2006, reaching 74.5% overall parity and substantial political empowerment. Fifteen countries in the region have already had female Heads of State, with Nicaragua and Mexico achieving full parliamentary parity. However, enhancing women’s economic inclusion remains a critical regional challenge.

Globally, despite promising signs of recovery following setbacks from the Covid-19 pandemic, significant structural obstacles persist. Among these are gender occupational segregation, political underrepresentation of women, and the practical implementation difficulties of existing gender equality laws.

Clearly, achieving gender equality is not only an ethical imperative but a fundamental strategy for global economic and social development. Accelerating this process requires coordinated actions and robust public policies to support women's full participation across all sectors of society and the economy.

Access the full report here: [Global Gender Gap Report 2025 - World Economic Forum] (link to the original report).