Global Gender Gap Report 2026

For the past two decades, the Global Gender Gap Index has benchmarked progress towards gender parity across four dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. The index continues to offer a consistent measure of the present state of gender parity, as well as the long-term evolution of global efforts to close the gender gap.

Marking its 20th edition, the 2026 Global Gender Gap Report covers a cohort of 145 economies and analyses a longitudinal constant sample of 97 economies included in every edition since 2006, providing the longest-running assessment of progress towards gender parity. The Global Gender Gap Index measures scores on a 0–1 scale, and scores can be interpreted as the distance covered towards parity (i.e. the percentage of the gender gap that has been closed, numbers rounded). Within country comparisons provide a view on areas of strength and weakness within an economy while cross-economy comparisons support the identification of the most effective policies to close gender gaps.

Key findings included in this edition feature index results for 2026, trend analysis of the trajectory towards gender parity, as well as a comprehensive assessment of patterns emerging from index data by region, income-level group and performance. The report further delves into the transformations that impact the global agenda through data partnerships and contextual data.

Global results and time to parity

Twenty years after the index was first introduced, the global gender gap stands at 69.2% closed. Among the constant sample of 97 economies, gender parity has improved by +5.2 percentage points since 2006, reaching its highest level to date of 69.4%. Looking at the constant set of economies included in both this year’s and last year’s editions, the global gender gap closed by 0.4 percentage points in 2026, from 68.8% in 2025 to 69.2% in 2026. Considering the collective rate of advancement for the 20-year cohort, global parity stands 120 years away. In addition:

In 2026, there is no economy that has reached full parity. For the 17th consecutive year, Iceland reports the highest level of gender parity at 93% and remains the only economy to have closed more than 90% of its overall gender gap.
Raising the bar from last edition, every economy in the global top 10 has closed at least 81% of the gender gap. European economies make up the majority of best performers in 2026 and across time. In 2026, Europe represents 70% of the leaderboard between Iceland (93%, 1st), Finland (87.2%, 2nd), Norway (85.7%, 3rd) the United Kingdom (84.2%, 5th), Sweden (82.3%, 7th), Germany (81.7%, 9th), and Ireland (81.4%, 10th). Completing the top 10 are Namibia (84.5%, 4th), the highest scoring Sub-Saharan economy; New Zealand (82.8%, 6th), in a recurring appearance; and Australia (81.9%, 8th) making its top 10 debut.
Since the index was launched in 2006, Europe has occupied 69% of all top 10. Eastern Asia and the Pacific economies have the second highest footprint, with 17% of all top 10. Four economies have featured in every top 10: Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Five economies have been featured once: Australia, Latvia, Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands and South Africa.
Across income groups, the average gender parity scores vary: 74.5% for higher-income economies, 70.3% for upper middle-income economies, 66.3% for lower middle-income economies, and 65.8% among low-income economies. While higher income economies tend to have higher average scores, parity scores overlap considerably between groups, and several economies from lower income groups outperform a large share of higher-income peers.
Across the four dimensions of the index, Health and Survival (96.2%) and Educational Attainment (96.9%) are the two dimensions closest to parity, while Economic Participation and Opportunity (61.7%) and Political Empowerment (22.1%) account for the widest gender gaps.
Over the past 20 editions, the Global Gender Gap Index score has increased +5.2 percentage points across the 97 economies featured in all editions, from 64.2% in the 2006 edition to 69.4% in the 2026 edition – its highest score to date. If these economies were to continue to advance at this estimated rate of progress, global gender parity is estimated to be attained in 120 years.
By subindex, across the 20 editions of the index, Political Empowerment recorded the largest improvement in global gender parity among the 97 economies consistently covered, with its parity score increasing by +8 percentage points (from 14.4% to 22.4%), followed by Educational Attainment (+6.5 percentage points; 91.2% to 97.7%) and Economic Participation and Opportunity (+6.1 percentage points; 55% to 61.1%), while Health and Survival remained essentially unchanged, edging down by -0.1 percentage points (96.3% to 96.2%). At the current pace, full parity is estimated to be 194 years away for Political Empowerment, 129 years away for Economic Participation and Opportunity, and 8 years away for Educational Attainment.

Regional performance

Europe regains the top regional position in the 2026 edition, having closed 75.7% of its overall gender gap and narrowly overtaking Northern America in the 2026 edition. Since 2006, the region has improved its overall parity by 7.0 percentage points and is projected to reach full parity in 70 years. Progress is driven primarily by gains in Economic Participation and Opportunity (+9.7 percentage points, including a rise in parity in women’s representation in legislators, senior officials and managers, from 36.9% to 52.9%, and an increase in parity among professional and technical workers from 83.4% to 96.5%) and Political Empowerment (+17.6 percentage points, including an increase in parity in the head of state indicator, from 5.4% to 16.6%). Europe also continues to maintain near parity in Educational Attainment (99.5%) and Health and Survival (96.9%) in the 2026 edition.

Northern America ranks second in the 2026 edition, having closed 75.2% of its overall gender gap. Since 2006, the region has improved overall parity by 4.6 percentage points, although progress has slowed since 2015, leaving full parity projected to be 108 years away at the current pace. The region continues to lead globally in Economic Participation and Opportunity, with 77.1% of the gap closed, despite a 7.4 percentage-point decline in parity among legislators, senior officials and managers since the 2006 edition. Political Empowerment has improved by 16.1 percentage points over the past 20 editions, but the region recorded a 3.3 percentage-point setback between 2025 and 2026, driven by lower women’s representation in cabinets and parliaments. Northern America also maintains full parity in Educational Attainment and a strong performance in Health and Survival (97.2%) in the 2026 edition.

Latin America and the Caribbean ranks 3rd, with 74.5% of the overall gender gap closed in the 2026 edition. The region continues to exhibit the fastest long-term trajectory towards parity, with an estimated 60-year timeline to close its remaining gap. Since 2006, the region has narrowed its overall gender gap by 8.6 percentage points, with a high degree of convergence across economies. Progress has been driven by substantial gains in Economic Participation and Opportunity (+10.6 percentage points), including higher parity among professional and technical workers (+9.6 percentage points) and legislators, senior officials and managers (+17.7 percentage points), as well as strong advances in Political Empowerment, where the region has closed 34.2% of the gap – second only to Europe – with ministerial parity more than tripling and parliamentary parity more than doubling since 2006. In the 2026 edition, the region also leads globally in Health and Survival (97.7%) and ranks second in Educational Attainment (99.6%).

Eastern Asia and the Pacific ranks 4th with 70.3% of the overall gender gap closed in the 2026 edition, surpassing the 70% parity threshold for the first time. Since 2006, the region has improved overall parity by 4.2 percentage points and is projected to reach full parity in 144 years at the current pace. Progress has been driven primarily by gains in Educational Attainment (+2.6 percentage points) and Economic Participation and Opportunity (+9.0 percentage points), including a doubling of parity among legislators, senior officials and managers and an increase in parity among professional and technical workers, from 81.7% to 98.3%. Health and Survival has remained broadly stable at 95.6% parity in the 2026 edition, while Political Empowerment has seen only modest progress since 2006, with improvements in cabinet and parliamentary representation partly offset by declines in head-of-state representation, leaving the region with 15.5% of its political gender gap closed to date.

Central Asia ranks 5th with 70.0% of its overall gender gap closed in the 2026 edition, with relatively small disparities across economies in the region. Since 2006, the region has improved overall parity by 2.9 percentage points and, at the current pace, is projected to be the last region to reach full parity, in 202 years. Progress has varied across the subindexes in the region: Political Empowerment has recorded the largest improvement (+6.3 percentage points), driven primarily by stronger parliamentary representation (+12.4 percentage points), followed by gains in Economic Participation and Opportunity (+5.5 percentage points), largely reflecting increased parity among legislators, senior officials and managers (+18.7 percentage points). While the region has maintained its strong performance in Health and Survival, it has experienced a slight decline in Educational Attainment, with parity easing from 99.8% to 99.5%.

Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 6th, with 68.8% of its overall gender gap closed in the 2026 edition. The region continues to display the widest variation between economies, ranging from Namibia (84.5%), ranked 4th globally, to Chad (57.8%), among the weakest. Since 2006, the region has improved overall parity by 6.0 percentage points and is projected to reach full parity in 102 years. Progress has been driven primarily by Economic Participation and Opportunity (+8.0 percentage points), with substantial gains in parity among legislators, senior officials and managers (+28.7 percentage points), labour-force participation (+18.7 percentage points), and estimated earned income (+16.4 percentage points). While Educational Attainment has improved across all indicators, the region remains the lowest-ranked, with more than 10 percentage points of the gap still to close. Political Empowerment has advanced by 6.0 percentage points, mainly due to stronger parliamentary representation (+11.6 percentage points), while Health and Survival has remained broadly unchanged since 2006.

Southern Asia ranks 7th, with 64.5% of its overall gender gap closed in the 2026 edition. Since 2006, the region has improved overall parity by 4.8 percentage points and, at the current pace, is projected to reach full parity in 149 years. The region continues to rank lowest in Economic Participation and Opportunity, with 40.9% of the gap closed, as gains in women’s representation in skilled and senior roles have been partly offset by declines in labour-force participation and economic outcomes from employment. By contrast, Educational Attainment has recorded the largest improvement of any region since 2006 (+15.0 percentage points), although most of this progress occurred during the first decade of the index. Health and Survival has declined modestly, due to lower parity in the sex ratio at birth, despite improvements in healthy life expectancy, while Political Empowerment has advanced by 3.5 percentage points since 2006, marking the smallest increase across all regions.

Middle East and Northern Africa ranks 8th, having closed 62.5% of its overall gender gap in the 2026 edition. Since 2006, the region has improved overall parity by 4.2 percentage points and is projected to reach full parity in 182 years. In Economic Participation and Opportunity, gains in parity among professional and technical workers (+14.9 percentage points) and legislators, senior officials and managers (+6.2 percentage points) have been partly offset by a 6.3 percentage-point decline in labour-force participation parity. In Educational Attainment, the region has reached parity in both primary and tertiary enrolment and has made substantial progress in adult literacy (+12.5 percentage points). However, the region continues to rank last in Political Empowerment, with 11.5% of the gap closed, despite recording the fifth-highest parity score globally for ministerial representation (16.4%) and the seventh-highest for parliamentary representation (23.9%) in the 2026 edition.

Speed of progress

The Global Gender Gap Report is the longest-standing index for gender parity, offering a unique overview of long-term progress made by 97 economies constantly featured in the index since 2006. Since 2006, virtually almost every economy in the sample has improved their overall gender parity by approximately +6.2 percentage points (unweighted average).

Measuring the breadth of progress across editions reveals that among the 97 economies tracked continuously since 2006, progress has advanced in phases: improvement peaked in 2019, when 76.3% of economies recorded gains, before the pandemic triggered widespread setbacks. Since 2024, more than half have regained momentum.

An analysis of the starting, mid, and latest point in the 20-year time series reveals the first decade of the index delivered faster gains before slowing down in the second. Economic Participation and Opportunity and Educational Attainment improved since 2006, while Political Empowerment scored lower in 2026 than in 2016.

Long-term performance trends also demonstrate that rapid progress is not necessarily dependent on income level. The economies that have made the biggest absolute gains since the index was launched are Namibia, Iceland, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, France, Bolivia, Chile and Nepal. This group has improved overall individual parity scores by more than 12 percentage points.

When accounting for the speed of change, the economies that have moved the fastest towards parity are Namibia, Ecuador, Nepal, Guatemala, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Comoros, Bolivia, France and Chile. The group of economies that has maintained sufficient speed and momentum to be able to reach parity within the next 40 years, if their current rate of advancement is maintained, includes: Iceland, Namibia, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Finland, France, Australia, Chile and Guatemala.

Trends and pathways shaping the future of parity

The drivers of opportunity are changing as labour markets, technologies, and global cooperation systems are evolving. While expanding access and participation has produced important gains in gender parity, narrowing the remaining gap will increasingly depend on increasing economic mobility, resource allocation, and decision-making power.
Work remains fundamental to economic participation, but employment alone no longer guarantees economic stability or mobility. Productive, resilient and upwardly mobile careers are critical contributors to economic gender parity, particularly where women and men remain concentrated in the same type of roles and sectors.
Women’s workforce presence has increased from 39.9% in 2015 to 41.8% by June 2026 and grown from 26.7% to 29.6% in senior leadership roles over the same period according to LinkedIn data.
As seniority increases, women’s representation is reduced. In 2026, women’s representation from entry-level positions to the C-suite drops by half, from 46% to 23%. The “drop to the top” is industry specific, impacting women at different career stages based on their sector.
While women are reaching industry leadership, they continue to be systematically underrepresented in roles that are common stepping stones to the CEO role, such as CFO or COO.
Over the past decade, the share of women CEOs in the Fortune Global 500 rose from 2.8% to 6.4%. Representation in this list varies by sector and revenue size: the 100 largest companies by revenue also have relatively low number of women CEOs.
According to LinkedIn data, women’s hiring into the overall workforce and senior leadership has stalled since 2022 and shows early signs of decline, suggesting that earlier progress might not be sustained if current trends continue.
In terms of career linearity and resilience, women are almost twice as likely as men to take career breaks, with smaller gaps in industries where women’s workforce representation is higher. Full-time parenting breaks are far more common among women than men and are followed by persistent post-return progression gaps. Professional-development breaks are more common among men and show smaller, though slightly widening, gender differences in post-break career advancement.
A growing Artificial Intelligence (AI) economy is reproducing existing sectoral and occupational segregation patterns. Women remain underrepresented throughout the AI value chain – from the infrastructure powering AI to the foundation models and applications that companies build on top of it. Similar patterns occur across AI occupations, where women make up nearly half of data annotators, but around one-fifth of developers and deployment engineers.
In capital markets, women’s access to financial products and services has expanded significantly in the past 15 years but is yet to stand on equal footing within the financial sector itself. Women comprise 40.4% of the workforce and 31% of senior leadership positions within capital-market institutions that play an important role in directing investment and allocating capital. In public financial institutions, the share of women in Central Bank leadership has consistently increased in recent years, reaching 19% for Governors and 29% for senior staff.
Women’s share among business founders rose at an accelerated pace ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, tapering off in subsequent years. With the surge of AI, entrepreneurship is surging again. While the number of workers adding “founder” to their LinkedIn profile increased by 60% between 2024 and 2025, women’s overall share among founders remained static, at 28%. In 2026, 8.7% of female founders have AI engineering skills, whereas 14.7% of male founders have the same skill set.
In an increasingly plural policy landscape, the international context for gender parity efforts is changing. Under an umbrella of international consensus, governments introduced legal reforms over the past few decades that overwhelmingly expanded women’s economic rights, with a particular surge in activity occurring in the early millennium. These decades followed the adoption of international gender parity agendas, as well as coordination and implementation mechanisms.
While reform activity has largely expanded legal rights for women worldwide, regions have followed differing reform trajectories over time, reflecting context-specific moments and reform priorities. Overall, Europe, Northern America and Latin America and the Caribbean enforced much of their reform activity between the 1990s and the 2000s. Middle East and Northern Africa had a later start yet progressively increased its reform activity until becoming the most reform intensive region in the current decade.
In line with last edition’s findings, the legal ambition behind reform activity has not been fully met by implementation capacity. Complex reforms requiring coordination across multiple systems, such as reforms on pensions, face a longer transition period from enactment to implementation than reforms on childcare. Enforcement perception data from the World Bank further shows that the effective implementation of gender parity reforms has been mixed across indicator areas: in pension, respondents perceive mandatory retirement age as the most consistently enforced reform. In parenthood, paternity leave receives particularly low assessments. In employment, respondents consider the right to work better enforced than recruitment discrimination protections or flexible work.
Women’s policy leadership has grown significantly in important political spheres. Female representation in legislative institutions has seen sustained and incremental gains since the 1970s. Furthermore, legislative elections after 1995 reported more frequent block increases in legislative representation. In the same period, over 80% of index economies adopted gender quotas.
A growing share of women ministers has also strengthened parity in political leadership over time. However, when it comes to policy leadership, women ministers continue to hold roughly one in 10 portfolios with high visibility and influence over budget share, staffing and resourcing.
Closing the gap becomes increasingly more demanding. Across public and private sectors, efforts to raise women’s participation and presence in the past twenty years will serve as footholds for increased agency in the next phase of efforts for gender parity.