Gender parity isn’t just a moral imperative – it’s a smart economic strategy. When laws and policies prevent women from working and starting businesses, countries forfeit the talents and contributions of half their population. This leads to slower growth, fewer jobs and less innovation. Closing these gender gaps isn’t just fair, it’s also necessary for any country that wants to stay competitive and achieve its full economic potential.

To unlock that potential, we need reliable data to inform smart decisions and track progress.

When lawmakers have clear evidence of what works, they can take action. Ministers, private sector leaders, philanthropies and civil society groups can use this data to push for — and help implement — evidence-based reforms. With the right legal changes, countries can take significant leaps towards stronger economies, expanding access to jobs and business opportunities. But without reliable data, policymakers are navigating in the dark.

To meet this challenge head-on, the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law project joined forces with the World Economic Forum for the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report. Together, we bring both sides of the gender equality equation into focus: the laws that shape opportunity and the outcomes that reveal whether those opportunities are being realized. By combining legal data with real-world performance indicators, we deliver the comprehensive evidence leaders need to identify barriers, craft smarter policies and drive meaningful reform. This is the data that turns good intentions into action and potential into progress. Gender parity reaps economic rewards

The economic upside of gender parity is clear. Estimates show that achieving gender equality in the labour force could boost long-run GDP per capita by 20% on average across countries. In entrepreneurship alone, gender parity could add between $5–6 trillion to the global economy. From a macroeconomic perspective, legal gender equality could also help foster cross-country income convergence over time.

Yet, legal and policy barriers remain stubbornly entrenched. Of the 190 economies analyzed by Women, Business and the Law, 96 still don’t prohibit gender-based discrimination in access to credit. Ninety-two don’t require equal pay for equal work and 77 still bar women from certain jobs — often the better-paying roles shaping the future. Alarmingly, 18 countries still have laws requiring a wife to obey her husband. These restrictions don’t just limit women’s agency, they shrink labour pools, constrain entrepreneurship and hold back growth for entire economies. These laws are often portrayed as protective measures, but as history shows, they can serve to entrench exclusion, disguising economic barriers as concern for women’s welfare.