Pakistan has been ranked last among 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2025, which emphasizes sustained gender differences in economic participation and political representation despite modest gains in female literacy.

The annual report, released earlier this week, evaluates gender parity across four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational achievement, health and survival and political empowerment.

“The occupation of the index (148), Pakistan sees its overall parity score fall from last year’s edition from 57 percent to 56.7 percent,” the report states, marking the second annual fall in the country’s score.

The report recorded limited progress in education with an improvement of 1.5 percentage points in educational achievement, raising parity in this domain to 85.1 percent. The winnings were partly driven by an increase in female literacy that increased from 46.5 percent to 48.5 percent.

Read more: Pakistan ranks the second last in the Global Gender Equality Index

“Part of the shift is driven by an increase in female literacy from 46.5 percent to 48.5 percent,” the report says. However, it warned that the improvement at university level was partly due to a decrease in male registration rather than a significant increase in female participation.

Pakistan’s score in financial participation and opportunity fell by 1.3 percentage points in the midst of expanded income and wage holes. The report cited a marginal increase in income difference and an increase of four percentage points in perception of wage research.

According to a 2024 World Bank Report, women make up only 22.8 percent of Pakistan’s workforce, and their representation in leadership and leadership roles remains low.

The country was also witnessing a fall in political empowerment. Parity in this category fell from 12.2 percent by 2024 to 11 percent in 2025. While women’s representation in parliament rose slightly by 1.2 percentage points, the proportion of women in ministerial positions dropped from 5.9 percent to zero, WEF said.

“Overall, Pakistan has closed +2.3 of his gender gap since 2006,” the report noted. “However, this year’s results are another fall in a row from the economy’s best score of 57.7 percent achieved by 2023.”

Pakistan has consistently ranked near the bottom of the Global Gender Gap Index. The report 2025 highlights the country’s continued struggle to create fair opportunities for women, especially in political and economic spheres. While progress in education is encouraging, it remains inadequate to overcome broader systemic inequalities.