· Gender gap now stands at 69.2% closed
· Iceland maintains top position for the 17th time
· Namibia ranks world’s 4th, first in SSA
Nigeria, with over 230 million people, placed 125th out of 145 benchmarked economies in this year’s progress on gender parity ranking, according to Global Gender Gap Report 2026 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
With uncertainties lined on the way to its decisive presidential and national elections early next year amid record socio-economic hardship, Nigeria is listed among the lowest-performing countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region.
Meanwhile, Namibia with 84.5% climbed four places to fourth in the world, the highest-ranked country in Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by the United Kingdom (84.2%), New Zealand (82.8%), Sweden (82.3%), Australia (81.9%), Germany (81.7%) and Ireland (81.4%).
Additionally, Kenya (65th, up 33 places), Ghana (56th, up 32), Angola (87th, up 30) were described as “the biggest climbers in this year’s ranking”.
According to the report, “Twenty years after the World Economic Forum first measured the global gender gap, the world is closer to parity than ever, but progress is fragile, with gains reversing in some areas. Women now reach senior leadership in business and government at levels that were rare in 2006 yet remain largely underrepresented in roles that carry the greatest economic and political influence”.
“Nearly every economy tracked since 2006 has advanced gender parity, yet full parity is 120 years away. Political empowerment has seen the largest gains since 2006 but has reversed since 2016. The share of economies led by a woman peaked in 2022 and has fallen back to 2016 levels. Women have reached the C-suite and cabinets but are underrepresented in roles carrying the greatest economic and political influence: women hold 19.1% of chief executive officer roles, while only one in 10 ministerial portfolios held by women is considered high influence. Women account for fewer than one in five AI engineers and are underrepresented at every level in AI firms,” the report said further.
The 20th edition of the report, the longest-standing index of its kind, benchmarks 145 economies across four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Globally, the gender gap now stands at 69.2% closed, where 100% represents full parity, up 0.4 percentage points over the past year.
Among the 97 economies tracked since 2006, the gap has closed by 5.2 percentage points to 69.4%, the highest level recorded. Economic participation and opportunity (61.7%) and political empowerment (22.1%) are the dimensions furthest away from parity. At the current rate of progress, full parity across all measures is still 120 years away.
Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum, said: “20 years of data show that gender parity is achievable. Economies at every income level have made progress, so the barrier is not a lack of resources,” adding: “parity is a foundation for growth and competitiveness, but it is not inevitable. To accelerate, governments and employers need to learn from the policies that work and apply them faster. A new economy demands a new approach to talent”.
Rankings and movers
Iceland, the Nordic island country located between Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean, leads in closing the gender parity gap report’s rankings for the 17th consecutive year, with 93 percent of its gender gap closed. It remains the only country to have closed more than 90 percent of its gap. Finland (87.2%) and Norway (85.7%) hold second and third for the third year running. Namibia (84.5%) climbed four places to fourth, the highest-ranked country in Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by the United Kingdom (84.2%), New Zealand (82.8%), Sweden (82.3%), Australia (81.9%), Germany (81.7%) and Ireland (81.4%). Australia entered the top 10 for the first time. Four economies have appeared in every top 10 since 2006: Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The report said progress has come in phases. Improvement peaked before the Covid-19 pandemic, when 76 percent of tracked economies recorded gains, before widespread setbacks. Since 2024, more than half of indexed economies have regained momentum.
The economies that have progressed the most in closing their gender gaps since 2006, each closing at least 12 percentage points of their gap, are Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Iceland, Mexico, Namibia and Nepal.
Biggest gains, clearest reversal
Nearly every economy tracked since 2006 has improved, and the first decade of the index delivered faster gains than the second. Political empowerment has gained the most ground in the last 20 years, up 8 percentage points among the economies tracked throughout. In 2006, there was one woman minister for every 8.1 men; today it is one for every 4.3. In parliaments, the ratio has moved from one woman for every 5.6 men to one for every three or so.
But political empowerment is also the dimension showing the clearest signs of reversal. It now scores lower than it did in 2016 and slipped a further 0.4 percentage points in the past year. At the very top, the share of economies – in the report’s constant sample of 97 economies – led by a woman head of state peaked at 27% in 2022, the highest in half a century, and has since fallen back to 2016 levels, erasing the gains made in the first part of the decade.
Regional performance
On regional performance, Europe reclaims the top position with 75.7 percent of its gender gap closed, having narrowed it by 7 percentage points since 2006. Northern America ranks second at 75.2 percent, slipping 0.6 percentage points from last year and losing the top regional spot as Canada improves its score and the score of the United States declines. Latin America and the Caribbean holds third at 74.5 percent, and leads the world in health and survival (97.7%). The region has the fastest long-term trajectory of any region, though it is still only on course to close its gap in 60 years at the current rate of progress. Eastern Asia and the Pacific rises to fourth at 70.3 percent, with New Zealand and Australia both in the global top 10. The region records the second-highest economic participation and opportunity score (71.4%). Central Asia ranks fifth at 70.0 percent, improving by 2.9 points since 2006 and is projected to be the last to reach parity, based on the current pace of progress. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) ranks sixth at 68.8 percent, up 1.6 percentage points from last year, and shows the widest variation of any region, with Namibia fourth in the world. Southern Asia ranks seventh at 64.5 percent and remains the lowest-scoring region in economic participation and opportunity (40.9%). Middle East and Northern Africa ranks eighth at 62.5 percent, improving by 0.2 percentage points from last year.
