The Philippines climbs to 20th place in the 2025 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, leading the region in economic parity, while Indonesia rises to 97th, reflecting steady gains in political representation and leadership.
How is Southeast Asia doing in closing the gender gap? There are clear improvements, going by the World Economic Forum's 2025 Global Gender Gap Index. Released earlier this month, the report found that despite years of socioeconomic and geopolitical disruption, the setbacks caused by the pandemic have been almost completely reversed.
Most of the improvements come from lower-income nations, which have successfully closed larger proportions of their gender gaps than most of the higher-income countries. Nevertheless, many of the top spots on the index are still held by European economies, with New Zealand (fifth) and Namibia (eighth) being two of the challengers.
This year's report places special attention on two Southeast Asian economies for noticeable improvements despite structural challenges.
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