Global Gender Gap Index 2026: India Holds 131st Rank
Why in the news
The WEF released the Global Gender Gap Index 2026. India stayed at 131st even though its score edged up.
Rankings snapshot
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| India | Rank 131, same as last year; parity 64.5 per cent, under the global average |
| Top three | Iceland, Finland, Norway |
| Bottom three | Chad (lowest), Iran, Pakistan |
| Below India | 14 countries, among them Papua New Guinea, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt |
About the index
- Brought out by the World Economic Forum since 2006; WEF sits at Cologny, Geneva.
- Measured across four sub-indices: economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, political empowerment.
- Scale: 1 = full parity, 0 = complete imparity.
- It compares women with men rather than judging absolute levels.
- Iceland has been first for over a decade.
India profile
- Traditionally strong on political empowerment; weak on economic participation and on health and survival, especially sex ratio at birth.
- Female labour force participation was 41.7 per cent in 2023-24; women hold 55.7 per cent of Jan Dhan accounts.
Exam angle
- Publisher: World Economic Forum.
- Other WEF reports: Global Risks Report, Future of Jobs Report, Travel and Tourism Development Index.