Pakistan Faces Challenges in Gender Parity: World Economic Forum Launches Global Gender Gap Report 2024.

Gender Gap Crisis: Pakistan Ranks 145th out of 146 Countries on Global Gender Gap Index 2024

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has unveiled its highly anticipated Global Gender Gap Report 2024, providing a comprehensive gender equality assessment across 146 countries. The 18th edition of the report highlights both global progress and persistent challenges in closing the gender gap in key areas such as economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Pakistan's performance in the 2024 Index reflects significant gender disparities, prompting calls for renewed efforts to enhance gender equality.

Pakistan’s Performance

Pakistan ranks 145th out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2024, with a score of 0.570. This represents a decline from its 142nd position in 2023, highlighting growing challenges in achieving gender parity.

Amir Jahangir , Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan , the Country Partner Institute of the World Economic Forum (WEF) said,  "Pakistan's performance in the Global Gender Gap Report 2024 is a stark reminder of the persistent gender disparities that hinder our nation's progress. Despite some improvements in educational attainment, significant gaps remain in economic participation, political empowerment, and health.

He further said, "Pakistan's performance in the Global Gender Gap Report 2024 highlights the urgent need for more effective and impactful gender empowerment initiatives. While efforts have been made, the overall impact on gender parity remains limited. To address these challenges, the government must prioritize comprehensive policies that promote women's participation in the workforce, ensure equitable access to quality education at all levels, and enhance women's representation in political and leadership roles. Strengthening institutional frameworks and fostering a culture of inclusivity are crucial steps towards achieving gender parity and unlocking the full potential of Pakistan's human capital."

"Global gender parity isn't just an aspiration; it's an imperative for sustainable development and social justice. We must collectively commit to empowering women and girls with equal opportunities and rights to build a more inclusive and prosperous future for all", said Puruesh Chaudhary , Pakistan's foremost futurist.

The report underscores critical areas where Pakistan must focus its efforts to bridge the gender gap:

Economic Participation and Opportunity: Pakistan ranks 143rd in this subindex with a score of 0.360. The country faces significant gender disparities in labor-force participation (30.4%, ranked 140th), wage equality (ranked 81st), and representation in senior roles (6.1%). These indicators reflect the urgent need for policies and initiatives that promote women's economic empowerment and leadership.

Educational Attainment: With a score of 0.836, Pakistan ranks 139th in this subindex. Despite slight improvements, notable gaps persist in literacy (67.1%, ranked 137th) and varying levels of educational enrollment. Primary (87.6%), secondary (84.3%), and tertiary education (92.6%) enrollment rates indicate progress, but the pace remains slower compared to other countries.

Health and Survival: Pakistan's score remains stable at 0.961, ranking 132nd. The country shows parity in sex ratio at birth but lags in healthy life expectancy.

Political Empowerment: This subindex sees the most significant decline, with Pakistan ranking 112th and scoring 0.122. The representation of women in parliament (19.3%) and ministerial positions (6.3%) reflects substantial gender imbalances in political leadership.

Regional Context – South Asia

In South Asia, Pakistan ranks seventh with a gender parity score of 63.7%. The region has shown modest improvements since 2006, but challenges persist. South Asia ranks lowest in Economic Participation and Opportunity, with significant gender disparities in labor-force participation and leadership roles. Educational Attainment scores 94.5%, indicating progress but with gaps in literacy and education, particularly in Pakistan and Nepal. Health and Survival remains stable at 95.4%, while Political Empowerment sees a slight decline to 26%, reflecting gender imbalances in ministerial and parliamentary representation across the region.

Saadia Zahidi , Managing Director, the World Economic Forum , on the report's launch, said, "Gender parity is fundamental to whether and how economies and societies thrive. The Global Gender Gap Report 2024 highlights the urgent need for action to close gender gaps and ensure equal opportunities for all. Pakistan's performance underscores the critical need for comprehensive strategies to address gender disparities and promote inclusive growth."

Global Overview

In 2024, the global gender gap score across 146 countries is at 68.5% closed. Compared to last year, the gap has narrowed slightly by +0.1 percentage points to 68.6% for both the full sample and the 101 countries tracked since 2006. Progress has slowed, indicating it will take 134 years to achieve full gender parity, far beyond the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal target. Iceland leads the index with 93.5% closure, while European economies dominate the top 10, including Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Health and Survival and Educational Attainment gaps are nearly closed, while Economic Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment remain more challenging, with significant regional variations.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2024 calls for concerted efforts by governments, businesses, and civil society to accelerate progress towards gender equality. In Pakistan, addressing the gender gap requires targeted policies that promote women's economic participation, enhance educational opportunities, improve healthcare access, and increase political representation.

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.

Mishal Pakistan is Pakistan’s leading strategic communication and design company. It is a multi-year award winning strategic planning company. Mishal is the Country Partner Institute of the World Economic Forum. Mishal generates primary data on more than 200 indicators measuring Pakistan’s growth and competitiveness. Mishal’s foremost domain of activity is behavior change communication, strategic communication with a spotlight on media and perception management.

Pakistan's Ranking in the Global Gender Gap Index has fluctuated over the past decade. Here is a comprehensive analysis of the changes:

Economic Participation and Opportunity

• Labour-force participation rate: Pakistan's ranking has worsened from 140th to 140th, with a score of 0.304 in 2024 compared to 0.362 in 2023.
• Wage equality for similar work: The ranking has improved from 71st to 81st, with a score of 0.620 in 2024 compared to 0.625 in 2023.
• Estimated earned income: The ranking has worsened from 137th to 136th, with a score of 0.249 in 2024 compared to 0.251 in 2023.
• Legislators, senior officials, and managers: The ranking has worsened from 139th to 140th, with a score of 0.061 in 2024 compared to 0.061 in 2023.
• Professional and technical workers: The ranking has worsened from 132nd to 134th, with a score of 0.358 in 2024 compared to 0.358 in 2023.

Educational Attainment

• Literacy rate: The ranking has worsened from 137th to 139th, with a score of 0.671 in 2024 compared to 0.825 in 2023.
• Enrolment in primary education: The ranking has worsened from 132nd to 125th, with a score of 0.876 in 2024 compared to 0.868 in 2023.
• Enrolment in secondary education: The ranking has worsened from 132nd to 135th, with a score of 0.843 in 2024 compared to 0.961 in 2023.
• Enrolment in tertiary education: The ranking has improved from 104th to 111th, with a score of 0.926 in 2024 compared to 0.984 in 2023.

Health and Survival

• Sex ratio at birth: The ranking has remained the same at 1st, with a score of 0.944 in both 2024 and 2023.
• Healthy life expectancy: The ranking has worsened from 140th to 141st, with a score of 0.999 in 2024 compared to 0.961 in 2023.

Political Empowerment

• Women in parliament: The ranking has worsened from 94th to 113th, with a score of 0.193 in 2024 compared to 0.258 in 2023.
• Women in ministerial positions: The ranking has worsened from 126th to 134th, with a score of 0.063 in 2024 compared to 0.103 in 2023.
• Years with female/male head of state: The ranking has worsened from 36th to 37th, with a score of 0.104 in both 2024 and 2023.

Economy Profile

• GDP: The value has increased from $348.26 billion to $374.7 billion.
• GDP per capita: The value has increased from $5.23 to $5.38.
• Population sex ratio: The value has remained the same at 0.98.
• Population growth rate: The value has increased from 1.83% to 1.89%.

Complementary Targets and Contextual Indicators

Overall, Pakistan's ranking in the Global Gender Gap Index has worsened in several indicators, indicating a decline in gender parity.

Amir Jahangir a global competitiveness, risk, and development expert, leads Mishal Pakistan, the country partner institute of the World Economic Forum's Future Economic and Societies Platform. As a leading narratologist and an expert of Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy for technology, and governance, he is an alumnus of Harvard Law’s Program on Negotiation, affiliated with Harvard University, MIT, and Tufts University since 2008. Jahangir is also an alumnus of the National Defense University, Islamabad, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government on National and International Security, reachable at aj@mishal.com.pk and @amirjahangir on X formerly known as Twitter.