India’s position on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index remained unchanged at 131st place in the 2026 edition, with overall progress toward gender parity recorded at 64.5 percent. Iceland retained the top spot globally, while Chad was ranked lowest, joining Iran and Pakistan in the bottom three positions.
According to data released by the Geneva-based [WEF](https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indias-rank-on-global-gender-gap-index-unchanged-at-131-iceland-retains-top-spot-101789547333998.html), 69.2 percent of the global gender gap has been closed, representing a 0.4 percentage point increase over the previous year. Although nearly every economy tracked by the index since 2006 has advanced gender parity, the WEF noted that reaching full parity globally will take another 120 years at current rates. Other countries tracked alongside lower performance tiers include Papua New Guinea, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Mali, Algeria, and Congo.
In India, the world’s most populous nation with roughly 1.5 billion people, gender parity has expanded by 4.3 percentage points since 2006, primarily propelled by gains in educational attainment. In the 2026 index, India posted a 96.6 percent parity score in educational attainment, despite a 0.5 percentage point drop from the previous year. In the Health and Survival subindex, India improved its score from last year to reach 95.6 percent parity.
In the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, India reported a 41.2 percent parity score. This reflects a 0.5 percentage point gain from the prior edition, though it remains 3.5 percentage points lower than the country’s peak result of 2013. Parity in labor-force participation stood at 44.1 percent in 2026, showing marginal progress over two decades. However, gender parity among professional and technical workers nearly doubled from 26.6 percent in 2006 to 49.9 percent in 2026. Female representation among legislators, senior officials, and managers rose by 10 percentage points over the same 20-year period, standing at 13.1 percent.
Political Empowerment was India’s highest-ranked subindex in 2026, placing 67th globally with 24.5 percent of the gender gap closed. India previously registered strong starting performance on the head-of-state metric, which climbed to 72.3 percent in the index’s first decade due to female political leadership within the indicator’s 50-year rolling window. However, that metric declined to 40.7 percent after 2021. Within parliamentary representation, a 16.1 percent gender gap was closed in 2026, up 7 percentage points since 2006. At the ministerial level, female representation grew by 2.4 percentage points, moving from 3.5 percent in 2006 to 5.9 percent in 2026.
Sources
– [Hindustan Times](https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indias-rank-on-global-gender-gap-index-unchanged-at-131-iceland-retains-top-spot-101789547333998.html)
Source: Hindustan Times – India News
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Story synopsis gathered from: Hindustan Times – India News — source
