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The World Economic Forum (WEF) released the Global Gender Gap Index 2026 on 16 September 2026, with India retaining its 131st rank among 145 economies. Globally, 69.2% of the gender gap has been closed, marking a 0.4 percentage-point improvement over the previous year.
About Global Gender Gap Index
The Global Gender Gap Index is released annually by the World Economic Forum and was first introduced in 2006 to track the progress of gender parity across countries. The 2026 edition is the 20th edition and analyses 145 economies, while using a longitudinal sample of 97 economies covered consistently since 2006.
The index measures gender parity across four key dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. The index ranges from 0 to 1, where 1 represents complete gender parity, while the gender gap represents the distance from full parity.
In 2026, no economy achieved complete gender parity. Iceland remained at the top for the 17th consecutive year, with 93% of its overall gender gap closed, followed by Finland and Norway. Chad ranked 145th, while Pakistan and Iran were also among the three lowest-ranked economies.
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