Japan remains worst among G7 countries in gender gap rankings

Japan remained worst among the G7 countries in the 2025 gender gap rankings, the World Economic Forum said Thursday.

Japan remained at 118th among 148 countries affected by poor political participation by women, according to the Tokyo-based Kyodo news agency.

The Swiss think tank's report showed that Japan improved women's participation in the economic arena, but it ranked 125th in political empowerment.

Japan has few female ministers in the Cabinet, and has never had a female prime minister.

The country lags far behind other G7 advanced economies, with Italy ranking second-lowest at 85th but still well ahead of Japan, according to the report.

Japan posted the highest progress in economic participation and opportunity, reflecting the increased presence of women in the workforce, but remained poorly ranked at 127th in the category, showing female participation in management positions.

The country's overall performance slightly progressed from last year, scoring 0.666 compared with 0.663 in 2024.

Iceland grabbed the top slot in the 2025 rankings, followed by Finland and Norway.

New Zealand was the highest-ranked country in the East Asia and Pacific region.