Global Gender Gap Index

  • The Global Gender Gap Index for the year 2020 was released by World Economic Forum.
  • Iceland, Norway, and Finland occupy the top three spots in the Report. Yemen ranked at the last place (153rd).
  • India has ranked 112th among 153 countries, slipped four places from the previous year ranking.
  • Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and China are ranked at 50, 101, 102 and 106respectively. Pakistan is ranked at 151.
  • It measures progress towards parity between men and women in –

1. Economy  

2. Education

3. Health &

4. Political representation.

  • The index lies between 0 and 1, with 1 denoting complete parity and 0, complete inequality.
  • Key Findings – The largest gender disparity is in political empowerment.
  • Only 25% of the total seats in parliaments around the world are occupied by women, and only 21% of the ministers are women.
  • By following the current trends, the overall global gender gap will close in 99.5 years.
  • It can potentially be closed 71.5 years in South Asia.
  • Globally, the average distance completed to gender parity is at 68.6%, which is an improvement since last edition.
  • India – Ranked 18th in political empowerment and 4th in the number of years a female or a male ruled a state.
  • Ranked in the bottom-five in terms of women’s health and survival and economic participation.
  • On health and survival, four large countries such as Pakistan, India, Vietnam and China fare badly with millions of women not getting the same access to health as men.
  • It has closed two-thirds of its overall gender gap (score of 66.8%)

Other Gender Related Reports

  • The Gender Parity Index is released by UNESCO.
  • The Gender Inequality Index is released by UNDP.