Why in News?
The World Economic Forum (WEF) released the Global Gender Gap Index 2026, where India was ranked 131st out of 145 countries with an overall parity score of 64.5%.
Key Points
India ranked 131st of 145 countries (same as 2025) with an overall gender-parity score of 64.5%.
India scored 96.6% parity in educational attainment and 95.6% in health and survival.
Its political empowerment parity was 24.5%, while economic participation parity stood at 41.2%.
Globally, 69.2% of the gender gap has been closed; the report estimates full parity remains about 120 years away at the current pace.
Global Rankings
Iceland maintained its top spot globally for the 17th consecutive year
Finland →2nd and Norway → 3rd
Chad ranked lowest (145th), preceded by Pakistan and Iran in the bottom three.
Exam Connect
Global Gender Gap Index → launched by WEF in 2006 → published annually → measures gender parity on a scale of 0 to 100 (where 100% means full equality)
WEF → established 1971 → headquarters Cologny, Switzerland