India Retains 131st Rank In Global Gender Gap Index 2026; Iceland Tops List

India maintained its 131st place in the Global Gender Gap Index 2026, published by the World Economic Forum, while Iceland, Finland, and Norway continued to lead the rankings. Only 14 countries scored lower than India, which included nations like Papua New Guinea, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Mali, Algeria, and Congo. Chad took the bottom spot in the index, with Iran and Pakistan rounding out the three lowest-ranked countries.

The Geneva-based WEF noted that most economies analyzed since 2006 had made strides towards gender parity, but it estimated full parity would take 120 years. Globally, 69.2% of the gender gap had been closed, a 0.4 percentage point improvement from the previous year. India scored 64.5% on gender parity, below the global average, with a 4.3 percentage point increase since 2006 primarily due to improved education.

In the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, India's score was 41.2%, up 0.5% from the prior year but still 3.5 percentage points below its 2013 peak. Professional and technical workers saw parity improve to 49.9%, while legislative, senior officials, and managerial roles stood at 13.1%. Employment participation saw only a slight increase to 44.1% over the past two decades.

India's Educational Attainment score was 96.6%, slightly lower than the previous year. Health and Survival saw a 95.6% parity score, while Political Empowerment ranked 67th, with 24.5% of the gender gap closed. Women held 16.1% of parliamentary positions, up 7 percentage points since 2006, but still trailed the country's peak of 30% in 2019. Despite progress in some areas, women remain underrepresented in influential roles, holding only 19.1% of CEO positions and 10% of ministerial portfolios deemed highly influential.