Global Gender Gap Report 202531region, its trajectory signals gradual improvement. Economic Participation and Opportunity remains the region’s greatest challenge, with an average score of 42.4% – the second-lowest globally. Internal disparities are pronounced: top performers like Israel (73.0%) and Bahrain (65.6%) more than double the scores of Sudan (31.3%) and Iran (Islamic Republic of) (34.9%). Structural gaps persist, with men participating in the workforce at nearly four times the rate of women in economies such as Algeria, Egypt, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Jordan, and Sudan. Yet bright spots are emerging. Jordan reports over 50% female representation among senior officials and managers, and women make up a majority of professional and technical workers in both Israel and Lebanon. The region ranks fifth globally in Educational Attainment (97.6%), having gained 5.4-percentage- points since 2006. Most economies are nearing full parity, but disparities in educational outcomes remain. For instance, while Sudan and Egypt post literacy parity scores around 86%, absolute literacy rates for both men and women are significantly lower than the regional average. Similarly, Lebanon and Sudan lag in primary enrolment for both genders, revealing deeper systemic barriers masked by aggregate parity scores. In Health and Survival, the region places sixth with a score of 96.2%. Although all economies have achieved parity in sex ratio at birth, large differences in healthy life expectancy persist. For example, in Sudan, both men and women can expect just 58.5 years of healthy life – over a decade less than their Israeli counterparts, where life expectancy exceeds 70 years. The region continues to trail in Political Empowerment, with the lowest global score of 10.5%. Still, the regional average has more than tripled since 2006, gaining 8.3 percentage points. The United Arab Emirates is the regional leader in the subindex with a political parity score of 37.2%, ranking 32nd globally. It far surpasses the next-best performers – Morocco (18.8%), Egypt (15.7%), and Tunisia (15.7%). Morocco (26.3%) and Tunisia (25.0%) register the highest levels of female representation in ministerial positions. Only Israel and Tunisia have had a woman head of state in the past 50 years. Northern America In this edition, Northern America occupies first place in the regional ranking with a score of 75.8%. The regional grouping comprises just two economies – Canada and the United States – whose combined population means the regional performance has a significant impact on overall global averages. Over time, the region has advanced a total of 5.2 percentage points in overall parity. The region also ranks first in Economic Participation and Opportunity, with a score of 76.1%. However, compared to other regions, Northern America has made virtually no progress in economic parity since the index was launched in 2006, increasing its score by a mere 0.6 percentage points in 19 years. Mixed results across economic indicators explain the limited progress: despite parity in workforce participation climbing 3.2 percentage points over time, the region has also seen parity in senior economic representation decrease by -6.8 percentage points. Having achieved 100% of educational parity, Northern America leads the regional table on Educational Attainment. Over time, however, Northern America has advanced its educational parity baseline by only a modest 1.7 percentage points. Across all three enrolment indicators, the region displays healthy rates of female enrolment across primary, secondary and tertiary education levels. However, a pronounced disparity appears on the side of male enrolment rates at tertiary level, which stand nearly 30 percentage points below female rates in the United States and 26 points in Canada. Northern America ranks third in Health and Survival with a score of 97.2%. Both economies have achieved parity in sex ratio at birth. Healthy life expectancy is higher for women than for men in both countries, contributing to the observed parity score. In Political Empowerment the region places third, behind its hemispheric and Atlantic neighbours, with a score of 29.7%. Since the index was launched, this is the dimension where the region has made most progress, narrowing its political parity gap by 19.3 percentage points. The region’s increase in ministerial parity is the indicator that has pushed the region forward in this dimension, raising its initial parity score by a striking 50.4 percentage points over time. Southern Asia Southern Asia ranks seventh in the 2025 edition, having closed about 64.6% of its overall gender gap. Of the seven economies that integrate the block, only one places in the top 50: Bangladesh (24th, 77.5%). Over the course of 19 editions, the region has narrowed its gender gap by 4.9 percentage points. With the lowest Economic Participation and Opportunity score among all regions at 40.6%, Southern Asia is yet to close two-thirds of the economic gender gap. Economies within the block register high levels of score dispersion in this subindex, evidenced by the 34.6 points that separate Pakistan (34.7%) from Bhutan (69.3%). Overall, the region has only inched forward by 0.8 percentage points since 2006. However, this number masks what is in fact a very heterogenous economic parity trajectory. Over time, Southern Asia has significantly improved parity in economic representation, with increases of 9.1 percentage points for senior officials, managers and legislators, and 17.2 percentage points for professional and technical workers. These advances accompany a modest 1.3 percentage-point parity jump in labour-force participation rate. At the same time, the region has seen parity decrease in estimated earned income by 7.8 points.

GGGR 2025