GGGR 2025

Global Gender Gap Report 202540labour-force participation rises from 89.9% to 95.6% after female participation grew to its highest recorded levels, and income parity increases from 50.1% to 60.4% after female income resumes an upward slope after a four-year slump. These developments place Nigeria on an encouraging trajectory for workforce parity; however, Nigeria’s performance fails to advance in the other three subindexes, with the most significant regression occurring in Political Empowerment (-2.9 points) due to diminished representation of women in ministerial positions, which declines from 17.6% in 2024 to 8.8% in 2025. In Educational Attainment, while literacy rates increase overall for both men and women, male rates (73.7%) grew higher than women’s (53.3%), increasing the gender disparity as a consequence. Unlike in many other economies, healthy life expectancy improves in Nigeria for both men and women, although more so for men, thereby diminishing gender parity in this indicator. Pakistan Occupying the bottom rank of the index (148), Pakistan sees its overall parity score decline from last year’s edition, from 57% to 56.7%. Overall Pakistan has closed +2.3 of its gender gap since 2006. However, this year’s results are a second consecutive drop from the economy’s best score of 57.7%, achieved in 2023. Parity in Economic Participation and Opportunity declines by –1.3 percentage points. While economic representation indicators have remained unchanged, income disparity in Pakistan has slightly increased since the last edition (+.02 points), as has perceived wage inequality (+4 percentage points). The sole subindex advance registered by Pakistan in this year’s edition is Educational Attainment, bumping educational parity upwards by +1.5 percentage points to reach 85.1%. Part of the shift is driven by an increase in female literacy rates (from 46.5% to 48.5%). However, parity has also risen because male enrolment shares have dropped in tertiary education, increasing the relative balance between men and women but lowering educational reach overall. The Southern Asian economy sees political parity drop from 12.2% in 2024 to 11% in 2025. While parity in parliament increases by +1.2 percentage points, women’s ministerial representation drops from 5.9% in 2024 to zero in 2025 – and with it the overall subindex score. Philippines The Philippines ranks 20th in 2025 with an overall score of 78.1%. Compared to the previous year, the economy has climbed five positions in the ranking, with a 0.2 percentage-point increase in its overall gender parity score. Regionally, the Philippines retains its 3rd position in the Eastern Asia and the Pacific block, behind New Zealand and Australia, as it did last year. In the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, the Philippines has maintained a parity level of around 80% for years. In 2025, slight improvements in the scores for wage equality and estimated earned income have brought its economic parity score to 79%, the highest in Eastern Asia and the Pacific this year. Despite strong performances in Educational Attainment, the gender parity in education has slightly declined. For the first time, the primary school net enrolment rate for boys surpasses that of girls, resulting in a 1.2 percentage-point drop in the education parity score from previous years of full parity. In Health and Survival, the Philippines has faced growing sex imbalances at birth over the past decade. The sex ratio at birth (females to males) has declined from 0.944 in 2016 to 0.926 in 2025. In Political Empowerment, the Philippines’s political parity score is buoyed by nearly 16 years of female leadership under Presidents Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This contributes to a 46.2% score in the head-of-state indicator, the second-highest in the region. However, progress in female representation in parliament remains modest, with the score at 38.9%. The score for ministerial positions has declined to 21.1% in 2025, down from over 30% in both 2006-2007 and 2023. United States of America The United States of America ranks 42nd, moving up one position compared to 2024. The economy has closed an additional one percentage point of its overall gender gap, reaching 75.6% parity in this edition. This improvement is primarily driven by increased representation of women in ministerial positions: on January 1, 2025, women held 40.0% of such roles, up from 33.3% in January 2024. In the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, the United States continues to score slightly above 75%, a level it has maintained for several years. However, there are masks underlying shifts: an increase in the share of women in senior leadership positions contrasts with a decline in estimated earned income. In 2025, the gender parity score for legislators, senior officials and managers has risen to 75%, returning to levels seen in the mid-2010s. Conversely,the score for estimated earned income has dropped to 63.3%, its lowest since 2010. Regarding the Health and Survival subindex, the United States has seen a marginal improvement of 1 percentage point in the healthy life expectancy score compared to 2024, while the females-to-males birth ratio remains unchanged. In the Educational Attainment subindex, the economy has achieved parity. Women now outnumber men in enrolment at all levels of education, a trend especially pronounced at the tertiary level, where the gap in favour of women continues to widen. Viet Nam Viet Nam ranks 74th globally, climbing two spots compared to last year. At the regional level, it has been overtaken by Mongolia and now ranks 7th in Eastern Asia and the Pacific. To date, Viet Nam has closed 71.3% of its overall gender gap, reflecting a generally upward trend despite some fluctuations over time. In the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, Viet Nam has closed 75.9% of its gender gap, a level it has maintained since