WEF Report: Nigeria Lags in Gender Political Empowerment, Ranks 143 out of 145 Countries

• Says global gender parity is estimated to be attained in 120 years

Dike Onwuamaeze

Nigeria lags in the gender political empowerment sub-index of the “Global Gender Gap Report 2026” as it is ranked 143 with 0.037 score out of 145 countries that were covered by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) report.

The report released yesterday showed that Nigeria ranked above Papau New Guinea and Vanuata ranked 144 and 145 with 0.015 and 0.000 scores respectively in political empowerment.

While Iceland, Finland and Norway took the first, second and third positions in the global the ranking with 0.954, 0.728 and 0.704 scores respectively.

WEF said for the past two decades the Global Gender Gap Index has benchmarked progress towards gender parity across four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

It stated the index has continued to offer a consistent measure of the present state of gender parity, as well as the long-term evolution of global efforts to close the gender gap.

It said: “Over the past 20 editions, the Global Gender Gap Index score has increased +5.2 percentage points across the 97 economies featured in all editions, from 64.2 per cent in the 2006 edition 69.4 per cent in the 2026 edition – its highest score to date.

“If these economies were to continue to advance at this estimated rate of progress, global gender parity is estimated to be attained in 120 years.”

Commenting specifically on Nigeria’s performance across the key sub-indexes, WEF said that “in political empowerment, Nigeria has the most terrain to cover, with 96.3 per cent of the gap left to be closed.

“In this sub-index, Nigeria is third from the bottom on the overall index.

“Parity at ministerial and parliamentary levels does not only sit below the 10 per cent threshold but has declined more than 1.0 percentage point over time on both indicators,” the report said, adding that Nigeria has continued “to record 0.0 per cent parity at the head-of-state level.”

However, the WEF’s report stated that Nigeria has closed over two-thirds of its gender gap in 2026, with a gender parity score of 67.6 per cent and overall global ranking of 144.

It said: “Compared to 2025, Nigeria improved its score by +2.7 percentage points, from 64.9 per cent, and its overall ranking by +10 places.

“Over the past two decades, the Sub-Saharan economy (Nigeria) has advanced a total of 6.6 percentage points from its 2006 score of 61 per cent.

“After several years of limited movement, the economy records in the current edition one of its strongest annual improvements.”

It said that among the 30 best performers in Economic Participation and Opportunity sub-index, Nigeria has raised its economic parity score to 76.6 per cent, which is the 7th highest in its Sub Saharan African (SSA) region.

“The score has increased by +0.4 percentage points since the previous edition of the index and represents a 20-year improvement of +15.4 percentage points, up from 61.2 per cent in 2006.

“Over time, the economy’s performance has been boosted by gains in workforce parity: parity in labour-force participation rate improved from 53.5 per cent in 2006 to 97.4 per cent in 2026.

“Nigeria has also reported strong advances in estimated earned income parity, lifting its score from 41.1 per cent in 2006 to 77.1 per cent in this edition,” WEF said.

The report also stated that educational attainment remained Nigeria’s second lowest ranked sub-index, “reflecting persistent gender gaps in educational access accumulated over time.”

It said that this is evident in the adult literacy gender gap, which has closed by 79.6 per cent.

“In 2026, Nigeria has reached full parity in secondary education enrolment, which increased by +17.5 percentage points since 2006.

“In Health and Survival, Nigeria records a score of 96.2 per cent, with health outcomes remaining broadly stable throughout time.”

The Managing Director of WEF, Ms. Saadia Zahidi, said that for two decades the data and key messages of the report have benefited from widespread readership and engagement, while its consistent methodology has provided a unique record of how gender gaps have evolved over time.

Zahidi said that across education, economic opportunity, political participation and health, global gender parity has advanced steadily.

She said: “That progress has been driven by policy reforms and workplace improvements, advocacy and civil society action, shifts in investment and capital allocation, and the daily efforts of countless women and men around the world.

“Yet twenty years of evidence also tell us something important: progress is possible, but it is neither automatic nor fast enough. No economy has yet achieved full gender parity.”