India Slips to 131st in Global Gender Gap Index 2025

📌 Introduction
India has dropped two places to 131st out of 148 countries on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2025, which highlights persistent gender inequalities in key areas such as economic participation and political empowerment. Despite modest improvements in overall gender equality, India’s position has worsened in relative global terms.

🔍 Gender equality score
India’s overall gender equality score is 64.1%, reflecting slow but steady improvements in education and health indicators. However, these gains are overshadowed by significant shortcomings in the economic and political spheres. The country now ranks lowest in South Asia, only surpassed by Pakistan.

💼 Economic participation
One of the most shocking findings is India’s economic participation equality score of just 40.7% – the lowest in South Asia. Women continue to face structural barriers to accessing the workforce, equal pay, and leadership roles. This stagnation in economic inclusion continues to limit India’s potential for inclusive growth.

🏛️ Political empowerment
India’s performance in political empowerment has also deteriorated, with women underrepresented in parliamentary and ministerial roles. This is particularly worrying given the recent global emphasis on women’s leadership and political voice, which are critical factors for sustainable development.

🌍 Global context
While Iceland remains at the top spot with a gender gap closing of 93.5%, countries such as Bangladesh (24th) and Nepal (125th) have fared better than India in gender equality. Globally, the average gender gap has now closed to 68.8%, but at the current rate, it will still take more than 120 years to achieve full equality.

📣 Conclusion
India’s lag in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Index is an important reminder that mere symbolic progress in education and health is not enough. Without structural reforms to boost women’s economic participation and political representation, gender equality will remain a distant dream. Urgent and comprehensive policy measures are needed to close the growing gap and ensure a more equitable future.