Last updated on September 25th, 2026 at 09:38 am
Japan Moves Up One Place in Global Gender Gap Report but Remains Lowest Among G7
Japan has moved up one place in the latest World Economic Forum gender gap rankings, but the country remains at the bottom of the Group of Seven industrialized economies, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2026.
Japan ranked 117th out of 145 countries and economies covered by this year's report, improving from 118th in 2025. Its overall gender parity score also increased slightly, rising from 0.666 last year to 0.670 in 2026, with a score of 1 representing complete parity between women and men.
The report measures gender gaps in four broad areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Japan's performance varies considerably between those categories, with particularly large differences between its educational results and its political representation.
Japan Ranks 117th Out of 145 Countries
The World Economic Forum published its 2026 Global Gender Gap Report on September 16. The report marks the 20th edition of the index, which has been used since 2006 to track differences between women and men across four major areas of social and economic life.
Japan's overall score of 67.0 percent means that the country has closed approximately two-thirds of the gender gap measured by the index. That represents an improvement of 0.4 percentage points compared with the previous year's score.
The one-place improvement in the ranking is relatively small, and Japan continues to occupy the lowest position among the G7 countries. The other G7 members perform considerably higher in the overall index, including Germany, which ranks ninth globally with a score of 81.7 percent.
The World Economic Forum cautions that the index measures gender parity using specific indicators rather than providing a complete assessment of every aspect of women's and men's lives. The results also depend on the latest available data from different international and national sources.
Political Empowerment Remains a Major Gap
One of Japan's largest gaps is in political empowerment. The country recorded a score of only 10.5 percent in this category in 2026, reflecting the relatively low level of gender parity in political representation.
The political empowerment measurement includes the proportion of women in parliament, the proportion of women in ministerial positions and the number of years in which a country has had a woman as head of government.
Japan's political empowerment score nevertheless improved compared with the previous year. The World Economic Forum said the country's score in this category increased by 0.02, with developments in government leadership contributing to the change.
The report also records longer-term improvements in women's representation in Japanese politics. Over the 20 years covered by the index, parity in parliamentary representation increased by 6.8 percentage points, while parity in ministerial representation increased by 4.5 percentage points.
Despite those changes, political representation remains one of the areas in which Japan has the largest remaining gender gap. The country's performance in this category is considerably lower than its results in education and health.
Economic Participation Score Falls
Japan's economic participation and opportunity score moved in the opposite direction. The score fell from 61.3 percent in 2025 to 60.9 percent in 2026.
This part of the index considers several indicators related to participation in the workforce, employment and economic opportunities. It also takes account of differences in estimated earned income and representation in professional and senior positions.
Although Japan's score declined over the past year, the country has made longer-term progress in this category. The World Economic Forum says Japan's economic parity score has increased by 6.4 percentage points over the 20 editions of the index.
The longer-term improvement has included a 13.1 percentage-point increase in parity in labour-force participation. The parity measure for professional and technical workers has increased by 8.6 percentage points, while the figure for legislators, senior officials and managers has increased by 5.7 percentage points.
The estimated earned-income measure has also improved over the period covered by the index, with parity increasing by 14.1 percentage points since Japan was first included in the report.
Education Is Close to Gender Parity
Japan performs substantially better in education. The country recorded a score of 99.4 percent for educational attainment in the 2026 report, placing it 68th globally in this particular category.
The World Economic Forum says Japan has maintained full parity in adult literacy and primary-school enrolment throughout the period covered by its index. The remaining gap in the education category is concentrated largely in tertiary education enrolment.
Japan's parity score for tertiary education enrolment was 97.4 percent in 2026. That means the difference between women and men in the educational indicators measured by the report is considerably smaller than the gap recorded in political empowerment or economic participation.
Japan ranked eighth within the Eastern Asia and the Pacific regional grouping for educational attainment. Its overall education performance therefore contrasts sharply with its position in the overall gender gap index.
Health and Survival Shows a More Stable Picture
The health and survival category is another area in which Japan's performance is comparatively strong. The World Economic Forum describes the country's trajectory in this category as broadly stable over time.
The index considers gender differences in health-related indicators, including healthy life expectancy. Japan has experienced some changes in this measure, but the overall health and survival category has not shown the same level of gap as political empowerment.
The World Economic Forum's global figures show that health and survival is one of the four areas in which gender parity is closest to being achieved worldwide. Educational attainment is also much closer to parity globally than political empowerment and economic participation.
The contrast between the categories is particularly clear in Japan. The country has a near-parity score in education while continuing to record much larger differences in political and economic indicators.
Japan Has Improved Since 2006
Although Japan remains relatively low in the overall international ranking, its score has increased since the gender gap index was first introduced. The World Economic Forum calculates that Japan's overall parity score has improved by 2.6 percentage points since 2006.
Much of the longer-term improvement has come from changes in economic participation and political empowerment. The increases in women's labour-force participation, professional employment and representation in senior positions have contributed to the change.
The index also records progress in women's political representation, although the starting point was relatively low. Improvements in parliamentary and ministerial representation have contributed to the gradual rise in Japan's political parity score.
The report therefore presents a mixed picture rather than a uniform change across all areas. Some indicators have improved over the long term, while others remain substantially below parity and some measures have moved backwards in the latest year.
Iceland Remains at the Top of the Global Ranking
Iceland retained first place in the 2026 Global Gender Gap Index, extending its run at the top of the rankings to 17 consecutive years. It recorded a parity score of 93.0 percent.
Finland ranked second with 87.2 percent, followed by Norway with 85.7 percent. Namibia moved up four places to fourth position.
The World Economic Forum's global figures show that the overall gender gap has closed by 69.2 percent across the 145 economies included in the 2026 edition.
The organization says the global figure improved compared with the previous edition, although progress varied considerably between individual economies and regions. Of the 143 economies included in both the 2025 and 2026 editions, around two-thirds improved their gender parity scores.
Political Representation Remains the Largest Global Gap
The 2026 report shows that gender differences are much smaller globally in education and health than they are in political representation and economic opportunity.
Across the 145 economies measured, educational attainment has reached 96.2 percent parity and health and survival has reached 96.9 percent. Economic participation and opportunity is considerably lower at 61.7 percent, while political empowerment is only 22.1 percent.
The figures help explain why countries can perform very differently across the four categories. A country may have relatively small differences between women and men in education while continuing to have much larger differences in senior political positions or economic opportunities.
Japan follows this general pattern particularly strongly. Its education score is close to full parity, while its political empowerment score remains much lower.
The Report Covers 145 Economies
The 2026 edition covers 145 economies. The World Economic Forum says the methodology has remained consistent since the index was introduced in 2006 so that changes can be tracked over time.
However, the organization also notes that data availability can vary between economies and that some indicators rely on data collected and validated by different organizations. The report therefore advises readers to interpret individual results within their broader national and regional context.
Five economies included in the previous edition were not included in the latest index because of data constraints, while Malawi and Qatar returned to the index. These changes are among the reasons the report provides comparisons based on a constant group of economies when examining global trends over time.
Japan's position is therefore based on the 145 economies included in the 2026 edition and should not be interpreted as a measurement of every form of gender inequality within the country.
Japan's Position Within Eastern Asia and the Pacific
Japan ranked third from the bottom among economies in the Eastern Asia and the Pacific regional grouping in the overall index. The World Economic Forum says Japan continues to lag behind its regional block despite the small improvement recorded in 2026.
The regional comparison also demonstrates how Japan's performance differs by category. Its educational attainment score is relatively high within the region, while political empowerment remains a major area of difference.
The report's regional comparisons are intended to show how economies perform relative to others facing some similar economic and social circumstances. They do not establish a single explanation for differences between countries.
What the 2026 Figures Show
The latest figures show that Japan's overall gender parity score has improved modestly, but the country's position remains substantially below the top-performing economies and below all of its G7 counterparts.
The strongest areas are education and health, while economic participation and political empowerment continue to account for much of the remaining measured gap. The economic score declined slightly in 2026, even as the overall score increased.
The report also shows that Japan's longer-term trend is not entirely static. Labour-force participation, representation in professional and senior roles, estimated earned income and political representation have all recorded improvements in the 20-year period examined by the index.
At the same time, the 2026 results demonstrate that progress has not been uniform. Japan moved up one place overall, but its economic participation score fell and its political empowerment score remains substantially below parity.
Japan Remains 117th Despite Small Improvement
Japan's move from 118th to 117th place in the 2026 Global Gender Gap Report represents a small improvement in its international ranking. Its overall score rose from 66.6 percent to 67.0 percent, according to the World Economic Forum.
However, Japan remains the lowest-ranked G7 economy and continues to have a particularly large measured gap in political empowerment. Its economic participation score also declined compared with 2025.
The same report shows that Japan has achieved much closer gender parity in education and has made longer-term improvements in several economic and political indicators. The figures therefore point to different rates of progress across different parts of Japanese society.
The 2026 report provides the latest international comparison, while its 20-year data allows Japan's current position to be viewed alongside changes recorded since 2006. Japan has improved its overall score during that period, but the latest ranking shows that substantial differences remain between its performance in education and health and its results in economic participation and political empowerment.
