Pakistan has improved its position in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2026 by five places, moving from 148th in 2025 to 143rd among 145 economies assessed. According to an announcement by Mishal Pakistan, a partner institute of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Pakistan recorded its strongest year-on-year improvement in a decade. Its overall gender parity score increased by 2.8 percentage points, from 56.7% in 2025 to 59.5% in 2026.

Although Pakistan remains among the lowest-ranked economies in the index, it has narrowed its gender gap by 5.2 percentage points since 2006, when its score stood at 54.3%. The 2026 report measures gender disparities across four pillars: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. Pakistan improved its ranking across all four, with the most substantial gains recorded in Educational Attainment and Political Empowerment, where it advanced 11 positions.

Economic Participation and Opportunity remains Pakistan's weakest-performing pillar and the principal constraint on overall gender parity. Pakistan scored 36.4%, ranking 144th globally and last in Southern Asia. Economic gender parity improved by 1.6 percentage points compared with 2025, although the score remains 0.5 percentage points below its 2006 level.

Pakistan performed considerably better in Educational Attainment, reaching a record parity score of 91.7% and ranking 130th globally. Experts note that sustained policy interventions will be required to bridge the remaining gaps, particularly regarding female workforce participation and financial inclusion across the country.