Why did India Slip by 2 Ranks in WEF Report? Get Full Details Here

According to the most recent rankings released on June 11, India has dropped two spots to 129th place on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Gender Gap index. However, there have been no changes in the top position. Iceland, which has been at the top of the index for the past ten years, remained at the top this year as well.

India comes in fifth place in South Asia, after Bangladesh (99), Nepal (111), Sri Lanka (125), and Bhutan (124). Pakistan is ranked 145th globally and at the bottom of the regional rankings, just ahead of Sudan, which is ranked 146th out of 146 nations.

What did the Report Say?

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2024 states that achieving equal participation and representation for all genders in social, political, and economic domains continues to be a significant worldwide challenge.

This year's election campaign does, however, provide some optimism for meaningful advancements in women's political representation. The year marks over 60 national elections in different countries, and the record voter turnout could go a long way toward achieving female parity in political representation.

According to the latest edition of @wef’s Global Gender Gap Report, the year of parity remains 2154.

These countries have made remarkable advances in narrowing the gender gap. #gendergap23https://t.co/x6WiEQk0aB pic.twitter.com/cqScSD54NO

— World Economic Forum (@wef) June 21, 2023

Why Did India Slip by 2 Ranks?

With less than 30% of gender parity in estimated earned income, India is among the economies with the lowest levels of economic parity, according to the report. Other countries include Bangladesh, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco. In these nations, the parity in the labor force participation rate is less than 50%.

According to the WEF report, India has closed 64.1% of the gender gap by 2024. The drop in the rankings from 127th to 129th is ascribed to a slight decrease in the "political empowerment" and "educational attainment" metrics. However, India’s Economic Parity score has been rising for the past four years, noted WEF.

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India’s Performance in the Report

World Economic Forum ranks different countries in the Global Gender Gap index on the basis of different criterias. India did slip two ranks in the overall ranking due to its slightly poor performance at two levels- "political empowerment of women" and "educational attainment". Let’s see hoe the country performed on others sub-indexes:

Secondary Education

India placed first for gender parity in secondary school enrollment, however it was ranked 105th in tertiary enrollment, 124th for literacy rate, and 89th in elementary school enrollment. In the educational attainment subindex, this caused a precipitous decline from 26th to 112th place.

Political Empowerment Index

India did well on the head-of-state criteria in the political empowerment subindex, but its score on women's representation at the federal level was rather low—just 6.9% of ministers and 17.2% of parliamentarians are women. It came up at number 65 for women's political empowerment in the nation and number 10 for the proportion of years that female/male heads of state have held office over the period of last 50 years.

Economic and Opportunity Subindex

In the economic parity and opportunity subindex, India held its position at 142nd, the same rank as in 2023, continuing to be one of the lowest in the world. The country was ranked 134th in labor force participation rate and 120th in wage equality for similar work. These ranks highlights significant pay gaps between men and women for the same work, and that too depends on the opportunity of getting the said work.

Health and Survival Index

India has continued to maintain its rank at 142nd in the health and survival index. This shows that the government efforts at medical level is not being fruitful enough. 

Top 10 Countries in Global Gender Gap Report 2024

Iceland was the top ranking country in the Global Gender Gap Report published by World Economic Forum. Check the table below to know the name of the countries who secured the top 10 position in the report:

According to the WEF report, 68.5% of the gender gap has closed globally; but if this speed continues, it will take 134 years, or five generations, to reach complete gender parity. The gender gap has narrowed globally by just 0.1 percentage points since last year.

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