It could take 131 years for the world to close the gender gap – “Not only are millions of women and girls losing out on economic access and opportunity, but these reversals also have wide-ranging consequences for the global economy”

Evolution of the Global Gender Gap Index and subindexes over time, 2006-2023. The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment). It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time since its inception in 2006. Graphic: World Economic Forum

By Alicia Wallace
20 June 2023

Minneapolis (CNN) – Progress on achieving global gender equality is languishing.

A new report from the World Economic Forum estimates that women won’t attain parity with men for another 131 years. In other words, not until 2154.

The overall gender gap — a measurement of equality across the realms of the economy, politics, health and education — closed by a mere 0.3% as compared to last year, according to the WEF’s “Global Gender Gap Report 2023,” released Wednesday.

The “tepid progress” in closing those gaps and indications of parity slipping in areas such as the economy create an “urgent case for renewed and concerted action,” Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the WEF, wrote in the report.

“Recent years have been marked by major setbacks for gender parity globally, with previous progress disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on women and girls in education and the workforce, followed by economic and geopolitical crises,” Zahidi wrote. “Today, some parts of the world are seeing partial recoveries while others are experiencing deteriorations as new crises unfold.”

Graphic showing the years in which the gender gap will be closed in various world regions, as measured in the year 2023. In Latin America, the gap is estimated to close in 53 years. In East Asia and the Pacific, the gap is estimated to close in 189 years. Graphic: World Economic Forum

The WEF’s Gender Gap Index measures gender parity in 146 countries and across four areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. Overall parity has improved by 4.1 percentage points since the WEF launched the index in 2006.

While the report shows progress in the areas of educational attainment and upticks in the health and survival and political empowerment categories, the economic participation gap showed some regression, sounding alarm bells of a “post-pandemic crisis,” according to the report.

“The recovery from the shock and ensuing polycrisis has been slow and, so far, incomplete, and the current context, coupled with technological and climate change, risks causing further regression in women’s economic empowerment,” according to the report. “Not only are millions of women and girls losing out on economic access and opportunity, but these reversals also have wide-ranging consequences for the global economy.”

The WEF estimates that it will take 169 years to achieve global economic parity and 162 years for political parity.

Share of women hired into senior leadership, by industry, 2016-2023. Estimates by LinkedIn show that as of May 2023, the proportion of women hired into leadership is lower than what would be predicted based on the pre-2022 trend line for most industries, apart from Construction; Real Estate; Oil, Gas and Mining; Education; and Agriculture, which continue to stay on trend. The most affected industries are Technology and Professional Services, which in May 2023 was 4 percentage points below trend, and Entertainment Providers and Wholesale, which were 3 percentage points below trend. Data: LinkedIn Economic Graph. Graphic: World Economic Forum

Only nine countries have closed at least 80% of their gap: Iceland, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Nicaragua, Namibia and Lithuania. For the 14th year, Iceland is the most gender-equal country by having closed 91.2% of its gap, according to the WEF.

The United States is 43rd, with a parity score of 74.8%. The United States dropped in the overall rankings from last year (when it was 27th with 76.9% parity) as a result of a sharp decline in the political empowerment index, which measures the gap between men and women in the highest levels of political decision-making.

“Accelerating progress towards gender parity will not only improve outcomes for women and girls but benefit economies and societies more widely, reviving growth, boosting innovation and increasing resilience,” Zahidi wrote. [more]

It could take 131 years for the world to close the gender gap, report shows