India ranked along with Pakistan and Sudan in Global Gender Gap Index 2025, slips to ... rank

Despite the rise in economic participation and opportunity for women, the gender gap in India has widened and the country has slipped further in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index 2025 rankings. Along with Pakistan, India has been put in the group of five countries where women have access to less than one-third of the economic resources available to men. These are the countries that have shown "minimal gender parity in senior workplace roles". Besides, India has been marked as a country with females-to-male ratios not exceeding 0.4. This is also a country where the labour-force participation rates reflect less than half parity between women and men.

India slips to 131st rank

India has slipped to 131st place out of 148 countries in the Gender Index 2025. It has been clubbed with Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt and Iran. The Global Gender Gap Index has four parameters for evaluating gender parity, these are- economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. India has been placed along with the economies that are ranked in the bottom five of the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex. These are: Sudan (31.3%), Pakistan (34.7%), Islamic Republic of Iran (34.9%), Egypt (40.6%) and India (40.7%).

More Economic Participation?

The Gender Index measures economic participation and opportunity through factors like labor force participation, wage equality and estimated earned income. India’s score in labour-force participation rate remains unchanged at 45.9%. According to the report, India's performance in health and survival parity improved. This is measured through the sex ratio at birth and healthy life expectancy. 

Women's Empowerment In India

The Gender Index makes it clear that India's performance in political empowerment has worsened. Women’s representation in Indian Parliament has come down from 14.7% to 13.8%. Similarly, the proportion of women in ministerial positions too has declined from 6.5% to 5.6%. It can be understood by the fact that only 74 women were elected to Lok Sabha in 2024 elections.