India's rank on Global Gender Gap Index unchanged at 131; Iceland retains top spot

The Global Gender Gap Report 2026, released by the World Economic Forum, indicates that gender parity is increasingly close worldwide, sitting at 69.2%, yet experts caution that achieving full parity may still take 120 years. The report examines gender parity across workforce participation, education, health, and politics in 145 economies.

While women now hold top leadership positions in government and business more than ever before, the trend has reversed over the past decade, with the percentage of women-led governments falling back to 2016 levels. The managing director of the WEF, Saadia Zahidi, emphasized that while gender parity is crucial for growth and competitiveness, it is not guaranteed.

Women remain underrepresented in high-level roles, holding less than a fifth of CEO positions and just one in ten high-influence ministerial roles. Despite a significant investment of nearly $1 trillion in AI development, women are underrepresented in this field, making up fewer than one in five AI engineers. This disparity is consistent across all levels of AI firms.

Iceland tops the ranking, with 93% of the gender gap closed, followed by Nordic countries. The United States has dropped five places to 47th, with 74.9% of its gender gap closed. India, the world's most populous country, ranks 131st, with 64.5% gender parity closed, driven mainly by educational achievement. African countries like Namibia, Kenya, Ghana, and Angola have shown considerable improvement, with Namibia leading the way in Sub-Saharan Africa at No. 4.