WEF: international gender gap to take 134 years to close

(MENAFN) The World Economic Forum (WEF) reports that it will take approximately 134 years to achieve full gender parity worldwide, based on current data. This projection translates to roughly five generations. The 2024 global gender gap score, which covers 146 countries, stands at 68.5 percent, a modest improvement of just 0.1 percentage points from the previous year.

The report emphasizes that the lack of significant, widespread change has slowed the rate of progress towards gender parity. It highlights that the current global economic and regulatory environment is influencing gender parity outcomes. Economic prospects for women and girls are being threatened by ongoing economic downturns and prolonged crises. Although economic policies aimed at advancing gender equality have increased overall, there are considerable regional differences in their adoption, resourcing, and implementation.

Iceland continues to lead the global rankings with a score of 93.5 percent, maintaining its top position for a decade and a half and remaining the only country to have closed more than 90 percent of its gender gap. European countries dominate the top 10 rankings, with Finland second at 87.5 percent, Norway third at 87.5 percent, Sweden fifth at 81.6 percent, Germany seventh at 81 percent, Ireland ninth at 80.2 percent, and Spain tenth at 79.7 percent.

Outside Europe, New Zealand ranks fourth with a score of 83.5 percent, Nicaragua is sixth at 81.1 percent, and Namibia holds the eighth position with a score of 80.5 percent.

The report underscores the necessity of recognizing gender parity as a catalyst for high-quality growth. It notes that business efforts to improve gender parity are gaining traction in Latin America, the Middle East, and East Asia. "Raising the required resources to close the gap requires a fundamental mindset to recognize gender parity as an engine for new, high-quality growth," the report states.

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