JOHANNESBURG, Feb 24 - A World Bank report released on Tuesday highlights a marked discrepancy between statutory protections for women’s economic rights and the practical systems that enforce and sustain them, concluding the gap is "shockingly large." The study finds that while legislation in numerous countries has advanced in ways that, on paper, expand women’s economic rights, weak enforcement and institutional shortcomings have curtailed the laws’ effectiveness in practice.
The report’s global index, which evaluates legal and institutional environments for women’s economic participation, returned an average score of 67 out of 100 when measuring legal rights. That score falls to 53 when the index assesses law enforcement, and drops further to 47 for the adequacy of supportive legal systems, policies and institutions designed to implement those rights.
Highlighting the human scale of those statistics, the report notes that "less than 5% of women worldwide live in economies that provide anything close to full legal equality," and that "not a single economy has secured all legal rights needed for women’s full economic participation." The authors emphasize that legal change alone is insufficient - parallel progress in enforcement and institutional capacity is required for laws to alter women’s economic outcomes.
Even in economies where legal frameworks have been modernized, the report documents continued restrictions on what occupations women can hold or what kinds of businesses they can open. The report characterizes this mismatch between formal legal reform and persistent practical barriers as "dumb," particularly as many countries confront sluggish economic growth and aging populations that could benefit from fuller workforce participation by women.
Regions identified as having some of the largest combined legal and enforcement barriers include Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa. The report notes these regions are among those most in need of greater women’s workforce participation even as they see rising numbers of young women entering the labor market - a dynamic that the authors say is undermined by legal and institutional obstacles.
To assess opportunities and constraints, the World Bank measured women’s economic participation across 10 categories: safety, mobility, work, pay, marriage, parenthood, childcare, entrepreneurship, assets and pensions. Among these, childcare and safety emerged as the weakest areas globally, presenting notable deficits that reduce women’s ability to participate fully in paid work and entrepreneurial activity.
The findings are drawn from data covering 190 economies as of October 1, 2025, compiled using the input of more than 2,600 contributors, including legal experts, academics, civil society representatives and public officials. Those contributors informed the index and the report’s analysis of legal rights, enforcement, and institutional adequacy.
Despite the overall shortfall in enforcement and systems, the World Bank report records legal progress in some places. Between October 2023 and October 2025, 68 economies enacted a total of 113 legal reforms intended to expand women’s economic opportunities. The report highlights a set of countries — including Egypt, Madagascar, Somalia, Oman, Jordan and Kyrgyzstan — as leaders in advancing such reforms during that two-year period.
Summary
The World Bank finds a substantial gap between gender-equal legislation and its enforcement and institutional support worldwide. Average index scores show stronger legal frameworks than enforcement or supporting systems, with childcare and safety the most deficient categories. Coverage spans 190 economies and more than 2,600 expert contributors, and records 113 reforms across 68 economies between October 2023 and October 2025.
Key points
- Global index averages: 67 for legal rights, 53 for enforcement, 47 for adequacy of systems and institutions.
- Less than 5% of women live in economies approaching full legal equality; no economy has secured all necessary legal rights for full economic participation.
- Childcare and safety are the weakest categories, with Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and MENA facing some of the largest legal and enforcement barriers; sectors affected include labor markets, childcare services, entrepreneurship and pensions.
Risks and uncertainties
- Persisting enforcement gaps may limit female labor-force participation and slow economic growth - a risk for labor-intensive sectors and consumer-facing industries.
- Inadequate childcare and safety provisions could constrain women's ability to work or start businesses, affecting small business formation and services sectors that rely on female participation.
- Legal and institutional uncertainty may deter entrepreneurship and investment tied to women-owned firms, with implications for financial services and asset accumulation.
This analysis is based solely on the World Bank report and the data and quotations it contains; it does not introduce additional facts beyond the report's findings.