Struggling with persistent gender inequality, Pakistan has been ranked 145th out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2024, placing just above Sudan at the bottom of the list. In comparison, Bangladesh stands at 99th rung, while India is ranked 129th.

Globally, gender parity in economic and political spheres has improved significantly since the inception of the report in 2006, nearly doubling parity overall in senior leadership, ministerial, and parliamentary positions.

“Despite making up nearly half of the population, women in the South Asian country face significant economic and social disparities,” the WEF study highlights.

Having one of the lowest levels of economic parity, Pakistan sees only 36% of women participating in economic activities, with just 23% in the workforce. 

Over 40 million remain outside the labour force in the country.

According to a World Bank report, there is a troubling wage gap in Pakistan, with women earning 18% less than men. Simply put, for every Rs1,000 a man earns, a woman receives only Rs818 for the same work.

The WEF says that the government and business actions have been crucial in advancing targets at the national and regional level; only the scale and stability of interventions remains insufficient in the face of current transformations.

“Economies cannot risk falling behind and throwing millions of women and girls back into times of strife and need,” the report emphasises.

The gender wage gap is even more disappointing in the country’s agricultural sector, where 68% of employed women work — yet 76% of them do so without pay, compared to 24% of men.

The study also found that women hold fewer leadership roles or professional positions in the corporate and industrial sectors. In managerial roles, only 0.14% are women, compared to 2.33% men, reflecting the deep-rooted gender inequality in workplaces across the country.

Comparing South Asian countries, the report says that while Sri Lanka has a highly equitable professional and technical workforce (96.8%), Pakistan displays a strong gender imbalance in favour of men (35.8%).

Moreover, Southern Asia ranks second-lowest in educational attainment, with a score of 94.5%, -2.5 percentage points lower than its 2023 performance.

This reflects how lagging gaps in highly populated countries affect regional progress, notably the low literacy scores in Pakistan (67%) and Nepal (78%), as well as significant gaps in enrolment across education levels in Pakistan.

The report stresses that big lifts in economic gender parity are needed to ensure that women have unfettered access to resources, opportunities and decision-making positions.

“The governments are called on to expand and strengthen the framework conditions needed for business and civil society to work together in making gender parity an economic imperative – one that fulfills the most basic of needs and inspires the very edges of innovation,” the WEF report said.