Morocco falls to 139th in 2026 global gender gap ranking

Morocco has slipped to 139th place out of 145 economies in the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Global Gender Gap Index, highlighting persistent disparities between women and men despite a marginal improvement in the country’s overall parity score.

The Kingdom recorded a score of 0.632, compared with 0.628 in the previous edition. Yet the two-place decline in its ranking illustrates how modest gains can translate into little progress when other economies move forward more rapidly. The WEF’s 2026 report assesses gender parity through four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

Economic participation remains the main challenge

The largest gaps for Morocco continue to be concentrated in the economic sphere.

The country ranks 141st for Economic Participation and Opportunity. Women’s labour-force participation stands at around 19.8%, compared with 69.6% for men, leaving a gap of nearly 50 percentage points.

The income disparity is similarly pronounced. The report estimates annual earned income at approximately $3,330 for women, compared with $14,900 for men. Morocco consequently ranks 143rd on this indicator.

These figures are particularly significant because the WEF identifies economic participation as one of the areas where gender disparities remain widest worldwide. Globally, only 61.7% of the economic participation and opportunity gap had been closed in the 2026 index.

The report also points to limited female representation in business ownership and senior management. Women are reported to be majority owners of only 12.3% of surveyed companies in Morocco, while women account for 5.44% of chief executive positions.

Education shows a different picture

Morocco’s performance is considerably stronger in education, although major disparities remain in literacy.

The country ranks 118th for Educational Attainment. According to the WEF indicators, Morocco has reached gender parity in primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment, placing it at the top of the global ranking on each of these measures.

Literacy, however, remains a significant weakness. Female literacy is estimated at 64.35%, compared with 82.44% among men, placing Morocco 123rd on the indicator.

The contrast illustrates the uneven nature of gender progress: access to formal education has moved much closer to parity, while differences in basic literacy continue to affect a substantial part of the population.

The WEF also stresses that education gains do not automatically translate into equal economic outcomes. Its 2026 analysis highlights the continuing challenge of converting women’s educational progress into greater representation in employment, leadership and high-value sectors.

Health and political representation

Morocco ranks 133rd in Health and Survival. Healthy life expectancy is estimated at 61.84 years for women and 62.82 years for men, placing the country 138th on that specific indicator.

The report also records a maternal mortality ratio of 70 deaths per 100,000 live births and estimates the fertility rate at 2.21 births per woman. Some 86.6% of births are assisted by skilled health personnel.

Political Empowerment presents a somewhat stronger position, with Morocco ranking 90th globally.

Women hold approximately 24.3% of parliamentary seats, while women occupy 26.32% of ministerial positions. The latter indicator places Morocco 57th worldwide, according to the report.

The WEF’s global assessment nevertheless shows that political empowerment remains the dimension with the largest structural gap worldwide: only 22.1% of the global political gender gap had been closed in 2026.

Morocco’s position in the MENA region

Morocco’s overall score places it toward the lower end of the Middle East and North Africa ranking.

The 2026 edition covers 14 economies in the regional group. The region as a whole has closed 62.5% of its gender gap, a slight improvement from the previous edition, but remains the lowest-performing regional block in the WEF index.

Morocco’s ranking also contrasts sharply with the performance of some African economies. Namibia ranks fourth worldwide, with 84.5% of its gender gap closed, making it the highest-ranked Sub-Saharan African economy in the 2026 index.

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the WEF records particularly strong progress in economic participation, where the region has closed 70.6% of its gender gap. Morocco’s corresponding figure is 42.4%.

The picture is reversed in education: Morocco has closed 95.8% of its educational gender gap, compared with 89.5% for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Legal and social indicators remain mixed

Beyond the four principal components of the index, the WEF report includes contextual indicators covering legal, social and economic conditions.

For Morocco, the report identifies continuing inequalities concerning certain inheritance rights for widows and daughters, as well as divorce rights. Access to land and non-land assets is classified as close to equal.

The report also notes that Moroccan women obtained the right to vote in 1959 and that electoral-list quotas favouring women remain in place at the national level.

On parental leave, however, the difference between women and men remains substantial: the report records 98 days of paid leave for mothers compared with three days for fathers.

Iceland remains at the top

At the global level, the leading positions remain dominated by Northern European economies.

Iceland retains first place with a score of 93.0%, marking its seventeenth consecutive year at the top of the index. Finland follows in second place at 87.2%, while Norway ranks third at 85.7%.

Namibia takes fourth place with 84.5%, becoming the highest-ranked Sub-Saharan African economy, while the United Kingdom completes the top five with 84.2%.

The broader 2026 report shows that the global gender gap has reached 69.2% closure. Yet the WEF estimates that, at the current collective pace of progress, full parity remains around 120 years away.

For Morocco, the latest figures therefore present a mixed picture: educational access has moved close to parity in several indicators, while economic participation, income, literacy and aspects of health and political representation continue to weigh heavily on its overall position.

The ranking itself does not measure every dimension of women’s lives, and the WEF cautions that differences in data availability and collection periods should be considered when interpreting country results.