Will Take 5 Generations To Achieve Gender Parity, Says New Economic Report

The equal participation representation of all genders in social, political and economic spheres remains a formidable global challenge, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2024. Achieving gender parity remains a distant goal, estimated to be five generations away, it said.

However, there is a glimmer of hope in this year's election cycle, which could foster significant improvements in women's political representation.

What the report said

• Women's political participation shows the most promise for impact, yet high-ranking political roles remain mostly out of reach for them worldwide.
• With over 60 national elections this year, the highest voter turnout ever could significantly advance gender parity in political representation.
• Women's global workforce participation has increased to 65.7%, bouncing back from a pandemic low of 62.3% in 2022.
• Women's presence in AI engineering has doubled since 2016, though they remain significantly underrepresented in STEM and AI fields.

Key findings

Global Results

• The global gender gap score stands at 68.6%.

• The gap has closed by 0.1% points since last year.

Global gender parity

Efforts to achieve gender parity have been slow since 2006, with only 4.2% of the gap closed annually. At this rate, it will take 134 years to achieve global parity, estimated at around 2158. Progress is especially sluggish in economic and political areas. 

However, there have been improvements, particularly in senior leadership roles, thanks to government and business actions. Initiatives like Gender Parity Accelerators and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouse Programme aim to promote gender equality. The Global Gender Parity Sprint, launched at Davos, seeks to accelerate progress through collaboration and investment. 

Performance by subindex

• Economic participation and opportunity: 60.5% gap closed.
• Educational attainment: 94.9% gap closed.
• Health and survival: 96% gap closed.
• Political empowerment: 22.5% gap closed.

Performance by region

Europe leads with a gender parity score of 75%, followed by Northern America (74.8%), Latin America and the Caribbean (74.2%).

The Middle East and Northern Africa have the lowest score at 61.7%.

Performance of countries

Top 10 countries

1. Iceland
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. New Zealand
5. Sweden
6. Nicaragua
7. Germany
8. Namibia
9. Ireland
10. Spain

Most improved countries

Ecuador (+34 ranks), Sierra Leone (+32 ranks) and Guatemala (+24 ranks) showed major improvements.

Highest declines

Bangladesh (-40 ranks), Lao PDR (-35 ranks) and El Salvador (-28 ranks) experienced the most drops.