India ranked 131st out of 148 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2025, dropping two places from its 129th position in 2024. Released on June 12, 2025, the report highlights marginal improvements in education and economic participation but a decline in political representation, making India one of the lowest-ranked countries in South Asia for gender parity.

This article is essential for UPSC examination preparation, covering a comprehensive understanding of the Global Gender Gap Report, India's performance, its implications, and an analysis of previous year questions from both the preliminary exam and mains exam, helping aspirants build a strong foundation for gender-related topics. 

The Global Gender Gap Report 2025 tracks progress on SDG Goal 5: Gender Equality, highlighting marginal gains in economic participation and education but persistent gaps in political representation. At 68.8% gender parity, full equality remains 123 years away, requiring urgent global action.

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Understanding the Global Gender Gap Report

Published by the World Economic Forum, the index evaluates gender disparities across four key dimensions:

• Economic Participation & Opportunity
• Educational Attainment
• Health & Survival
• Political Empowerment

Each country is scored between 0 and 1, where 1 represents full gender parity.

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Economic Participation & Opportunity

• India saw a 0.9 percentage point increase, reaching 40.7%.
• Labour force participation stayed at 45.9%, while gender parity in estimated earned income improved from 28.6% to 29.9%.

Educational Attainment

• India achieved near parity, scoring 97.1%, driven by higher female literacy rates and increased tertiary education enrolment.

Health & Survival

• India's score improved due to better parity in sex ratio at birth and life expectancy.
• However, overall life expectancy declined, making the parity gains less impactful.

Political Empowerment

• Female representation in Parliament dropped from 14.7% in 2024 to 13.8% in 2025.
• Ministerial representation also fell, from 6.5% to 5.6%, marking the second consecutive year of decline.

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Regional Comparison & Global Leaders

• Bangladesh made significant progress, jumping 75 places to 24th globally.
• Nepal (125), Bhutan (119), and Sri Lanka (130) outranked India, while Maldives (138) and Pakistan (148) ranked lower.
• Iceland remains the most gender-equal country, followed by Finland, Norway, the UK, and New Zealand.

Global Gender Parity Trends

• The global gender gap improved to 68.8%, marking the strongest progress since the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Full global gender parity is projected to take 123 years at the current pace.
• Women make up 41.2% of the workforce but hold only 28.8% of leadership positions, reflecting persistent disparities in decision-making roles.

Implications for India

The Global Gender Gap Report is not just a social measure—it has strong economic implications. According to the World Economic Forum, countries advancing gender parity experience greater economic resilience and growth. India’s stagnation in key areas, especially political representation, highlights the urgent need for institutional reforms and gender-focused policies.

Previous year questions on the Global Gender Gap Report

Prelims:

1. Which of the following gives ‘Global Gender Gap Index’ ranking to the countries of the world? (2017)

(a) World Economic Forum

(b) UN Human Rights Council

(c) UN Women

(d) World Health Organization

Ans: (a)

Previous year question paper for UPSC exam https://testbook.com/upsc-civil-services/previous-year-papers 

Mains:

1. Discuss the desirability of greater representation to women in the higher judiciary to ensure diversity, equity and inclusiveness. (2021)

Conclusion

The Global Gender Gap Report is a document that indicates that there are improvements but at the same time disparities in gender equality among the nations. In as much as certain countries have improved a lot in eliminating economic, education, and health disparities, political empowerment has been a big challenge. Even by this rate, it will take more than one hundred years to reach full gender parity and the importance of consistent work, powerful policies, and international collaboration is stressed by this fact.