Pakistan has landed at the very bottom—148th out of 148 countries—in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025, recording its poorest performance since the rankings began in 2006 with a gender parity score of just 56.7%.
The report assesses gender equality across four core dimensions: economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
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Pakistan saw significant declines in economic and political inclusion, with female representation in ministerial roles falling to zero and the wage and income disparities widening even further.
While the education sector saw a slight improvement, with gender parity reaching 85.1%, this was largely due to a marginal rise in female literacy (from 46.5% to 48.5%) and a drop in male enrollment in higher education—resulting in a relative, rather than absolute, educational balance.
Globally, the average gender parity now stands at 68.8%. Iceland remains the world leader in gender equality for the 16th consecutive year with 92.6% parity. Still, progress remains slow, and the report estimates it will take another 123 years to close the global gender gap entirely.
These results underscore a pressing need for Pakistan to implement reforms that promote gender equality, particularly in leadership, education, and the workforce, to support national growth and social progress.
