India dropped four places, from 2018, to take the 112th rank in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2019-2020. The Index measures the extent of gender-based gaps in economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. In the health and survival parameter, India’s performance is dismal, ranking 150th out of 153 countries.
Global Rankings
Iceland topped the gender parity rankings, redressing 87.7% of the gender gap. India was ranked 112th, having addressed only 66.8% of the gap.
Where India stands
Global Gender Gap Index: Table 1
Economic woes
Barring the economic participation index, all sub-indices witnessed marginal improvement, globally, compared to 2018.
State of indices
Global Gender Gap Index: Chart 1
Poor among BRICS
For all sub-indices, the highest possible score is 1 (gender parity) and the lowest possible score is 0 (imparity). The chart shows India’s score in these sub-indices compared to other South Asian and BRICS nations.
India’s position across indices
Global Gender Gap Index: Chart 2
Unhealthy rank
Among all indices, India’s rank was the worst in the Health and Survival parameter which is computed in terms of life expectancy for women and sex ratio at birth. India ranked second-worst among South Asian and BRICS nations in the sex ratio category.
