ISLAMABAD: Pakistan climbed five positions in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2026, moving from 148th to 143rd among 145 economies as its overall gender parity score improved.
According to an announcement by Mishal Pakistan, a partner institute of the World Economic Forum, the country recorded its largest year-on-year improvement in a decade.
Pakistan’s overall gender parity score increased by 2.8 percentage points, rising from 56.7% in 2025 to 59.5% in 2026. However, the country remains among the lowest-ranked economies covered by the index.
Since 2006, when Pakistan recorded a score of 54.3%, the country has narrowed its measured gender gap by 5.2 percentage points.
Education and Political Empowerment Record Strongest Gains
The report assesses gender disparities across Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
Pakistan improved its ranking across all four pillars. Moreover, Educational Attainment and Political Empowerment registered the strongest ranking gains, with the country advancing 11 positions in each category.
Educational Attainment reached a record parity score of 91.7%, placing Pakistan 130th globally.
Economic Participation Remains Pakistan’s Weakest Area
Despite broader improvement, Economic Participation and Opportunity continued to present the largest challenge to Pakistan’s overall gender parity performance.
Pakistan scored 36.4% in this category, ranking 144th globally and last among South Asian economies included in the assessment.
Furthermore, economic gender parity improved by 1.6 percentage points compared with 2025. Nevertheless, the latest score remained 0.5 percentage points below Pakistan’s 2006 level.
Consequently, the report indicates that Pakistan made measurable progress during 2026, particularly in education and political empowerment, while substantial disparities continue to affect women’s participation and opportunities in the economy.
