India's Ranking On WEF Global Gender Gap Index Slides To 129th Place

India has fallen two spots to 129th place on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index, while Iceland has maintained its top position, according to the rankings published on June 12.

Within South Asia, India ranked fifth, following Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, while Pakistan ranked last. Globally, Pakistan dropped three spots to 145th out of 146 countries, with Sudan ranked last on the index.

The report highlighted that India has narrowed its gender gap by 64.1% in 2024. Although India's economic equality score has shown improvement, it still needs to rise by 6.2 percentage points to reach its 2012 level of 46%.

Among the economies achieving the highest economic gender parity are Liberia at 87.4 percent and Botswana at 85.4 percent, among others.

Iceland ranked highest this year for gender equality globally, with Finland and Norway following closely.

The report noted that at the current rate of progress, it will take 134 years to reach full parity in 2158 – which is roughly five generations from now.