Praneet Thakar
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2024 highlights the mixed progress in achieving gender equality globally. Women and girls make up half of the world’s population, representing half of its potential. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but is also crucial for peaceful societies, full human potential, and sustainable development.
The latest report reveals that the global gender gap has closed by 68.5% in 2024, showing a marginal improvement of 0.1 percentage points from the previous year. While significant strides have been made in health, survival, and educational attainment, substantial gaps remain in economic participation and political empowerment.
The report indicates that the health and survival gender gap has nearly closed, with a 96% closure rate. Educational attainment has achieved a 94.9% closure, while economic participation lags at 60.5%. Political empowerment remains the most challenging area, with only 22.5% of the gap closed.
Despite these advances, the WEF estimates it will take 131 years to achieve full gender parity, projecting the year 2158 as the target, which is far beyond the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target. This underscores the significant and sustained efforts needed to bridge these gaps fully.
Regional disparities are evident in the report, with Europe leading in gender parity by closing 75% of its gap, marking a 6.2 percentage point improvement since 2006.
In contrast, the Middle East and North Africa rank the lowest, with a gender parity score of 61.7%, though the region has improved by 3.9 percentage points since 2006. These regional variations highlight the uneven progress and the need for region-specific strategies to address gender disparities effectively.
Southern Asia, including India, ranks seventh among eight global regions, with a gender parity score of 63.7%, improving by 3.9 percentage points since 2006. India, in particular, has shown slight improvement in economic participation and opportunity for women and performed relatively well in political empowerment, ranking 65th.
However, India’s overall gender gap closure of 64.1% in 2024 places it 129th globally, a decline from its 127th position in 2023, highlighting ongoing challenges within the region.
Among the world’s most gender-equal countries, Iceland remains at the forefront, closing 93.5% of its gender gap and maintaining its top position for over a decade and a half. The top 10 countries in the report have all closed over 80% of their gender gaps, serving as role models for the rest of the world. Despite no country achieving full gender parity, these leading nations demonstrate significant progress and provide a roadmap for other countries striving towards gender equality.
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