Twenty years after the World Economic Forum first measured the global gender gap, the world is closer to parity than ever, but progress is fragile, with gains reversing in some areas, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2026, published today.
Women now reach senior leadership in business and government at levels that were rare in 2006 yet remain largely underrepresented in roles that carry the greatest economic and political influence, stated in a press note of WEF.
The 20th edition of the report, the longest-standing index of its kind, benchmarks 145 economies across four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Globally, the gender gap now stands at 69.2% closed, where 100% represents full parity, up 0.4 percentage points over the past year.
Among the 97 economies tracked since 2006, the gap has closed by 5.2 percentage points to 69.4%, the highest level recorded. Economic participation and opportunity (61.7%) and political empowerment (22.1%) are the dimensions furthest away from parity. At the current rate of progress, full parity across all measures is still 120 years away.
Iceland leads in the report’s rankings for the 17th consecutive year, with 93% of the gender gap closed, and remains the only country to have closed more than 90% of its gap.
Finland (87.2%) and Norway (85.7%) hold second and third for the third year running. Namibia (84.5%) climbed four places to fourth, the highest-ranked country in Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by the United Kingdom (84.2%), New Zealand (82.8%), Sweden (82.3%), Australia (81.9%), Germany (81.7%) and Ireland (81.4%).
Australia entered the top 10 for the first time. Four economies have appeared in every top 10 since 2006: Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Progress has come in phases. Improvement peaked before the pandemic, when 76% of tracked economies recorded gains, before widespread setbacks. Since 2024, more than half of indexed economies have regained momentum. The biggest climbers in this year’s ranking are Kenya (65th, up 33 places), Ghana (56th, up 32), Guatemala (50th, up 31), Angola (87th, up 30) and Czechia (77th, up 25).
The economies that have progressed the most in closing their gender gaps since 2006, each closing at least 12 percentage points of their gap, are Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Iceland, Mexico, Namibia and Nepal.
Nearly every economy tracked since 2006 has improved, and the first decade of the index delivered faster gains than the second. Political empowerment has gained the most ground in the last 20 years, up 8 percentage points among the economies tracked throughout.
In 2006, there was one woman minister for every 8.1 men; today it is one for every 4.3. In parliaments, the ratio has moved from one woman for every 5.6 men to one for every three or so.
But political empowerment is also the dimension showing the clearest signs of reversal. It now scores lower than it did in 2016 and slipped a further 0.4 percentage points in the past year.
Europe reclaims the top regional position with 75.7% of its gender gap closed, having narrowed it by 7 percentage points since 2006. Seven of the global top 10 performers across the index are European.
Northern America ranks second at 75.2%, slipping 0.6 percentage points from last year and losing the top regional spot as Canada improves its score and the score of the United States declines, the note added.
Latin America and the Caribbean holds third at 74.5% and leads the world in health and survival (97.7%).
Eastern Asia and the Pacific rises to fourth at 70.3%, with New Zealand and Australia both in the global top 10. The region records the second-highest economic participation and opportunity score (71.4%).
Central Asia ranks fifth at 70.0%. The region has improved by 2.9 points since 2006 and is projected to be the last to reach parity, based on the current pace of progress.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks sixth at 68.8%, up 1.6 percentage points from last year, and shows the widest variation of any region, with Namibia fourth in the world. Its strongest long-term gain is parity among legislators, senior officials and managers, up 28.7 percentage points since 2006.
Southern Asia ranks seventh at 64.5% and remains the lowest-scoring region in economic participation and opportunity (40.9%). It has recorded the largest educational gain of any region since 2006, up 15 percentage points, with almost all economies now at parity in tertiary enrolment.
Middle East and Northern Africa ranks eighth at 62.5%, improving by 0.2 percentage points from last year. The educational gender gap has narrowed to under 3%, while parity in political empowerment remains the lowest of any region at 11.5%.
The Global Gender Gap Report, now in its 20th edition, benchmarks gender parity across four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, it reads.
The 2026 edition covers 145 economies and tracks long-term trends across a constant sample of 97 economies included in every edition since 2006. First published in 2006 and using a consistent methodology since then, it is the longest-standing index of its kind.
