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Gender Equality to Take 120 Years Even as Gap Narrows, WEF Says
Women hold fewer than a fifth of CEO posts and only one in 10 ministerial roles with major influence, the WEF said.
On Wednesday, the World Economic Forum published The Global Gender Gap Report 2026, revealing that global gender parity reached 69.2%. However, the Geneva-based nonprofit warned that achieving full equality remains 120 years away, describing current progress as "fragile."
Political parity has stagnated over 20 years, with women accounting for only a fraction of ministers. Despite 26% growth in ministerial roles since 2008, the WEF reported that the share of "weighty" roles held by women remains "virtually unchanged today."
Iceland leads the ranking with 93% parity, while Namibia reached 84.5% parity, climbing four places. Conversely, The United States dropped to 47th with 74.9% parity as the decline coincided with fewer women serving as Cabinet secretaries under President Donald Trump.
The share of women in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet slipped to 5.9%, leaving India at 131st with 64.5% parity. Meanwhile, China rose seven places to 96th, closing 69.9% of its gender gap.
WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi warned that parity is "not inevitable." She urged governments to learn from effective policies, noting that despite nearly $1 trillion invested in artificial intelligence, women remain underrepresented at every level of firms.
After the Coronapandemie, gender equality has declined: at present, fewer women are in political positions than ten years ago. Only 19 percent of the top positions are occupied by women.