UN Gender Snapshot 2025: Investing in equality could unlock trillions and lift 30 million women from poverty but progress remains fragile

New York – Urgent investment in women’s empowerment could unlock trillions for the global economy and lift millions of women out of poverty, according to the Gender Snapshot 2025 report released today by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). The report finds that closing the gender digital divide alone could generate an additional $1.5 trillion for global GDP by 2030, benefit 343.5 million women and girls, and lift 30 million women out of poverty by 2050. Yet, without accelerated action, 351 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030, and progress on every woman’s empowerment target under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will remain off track.

“Where gender equality has been prioritized, it has propelled societies and economies forward,” said Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director. “Targeted investments in gender equality have the power to transform societies and economies. Just closing the gender digital divide alone could benefit 343.5 million women and girls worldwide, lift 30 million out of poverty by 2050, and generate an estimated $1.5 trillion boost to global GDP by 2030.”

The report paints a mixed picture: while remarkable progress has been achieved in several areas, hard-won gains remain fragile in the face of mounting setbacks.

Progress has been achieved: girls are more likely than ever to finish school, maternal mortality has dropped by nearly 40% since 2000, and women’s leadership in climate negotiations has doubled. In countries with comprehensive measures on violence against women, spousal violence rates are 2.5 times lower. Over the past five years, 99 discriminatory laws have been reformed.

Yet, the report also warns of setbacks. Shrinking civic space, backlash against women’s rights, and declining funding for gender equality threaten to erode gains. If current trends persist, 351 million women and girls will remain in extreme poverty by 2030. Food insecurity is also gendered: in 2024, 64 million more adult women than men were moderately or severely food insecure. Today, 676 million women and girls live near deadly conflict—the highest number since the 1990s.

“With only five years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda, the costs of inaction are immense, but so are the potential returns,” said Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “Accelerated investments in care, education, the green economy, labour markets, and social protection could lift 110 million women and girls from extreme poverty by 2050, unlocking $342 trillion in economic returns.”

Released ahead of the UN General Assembly and the Beijing+30 commemoration, the Gender Snapshot 2025 underscores that achieving gender equality is not only a matter of rights, but of smart economics and global sustainability.

While the global Gender Snapshot 2025 underscores both the scale of progress and the risks of backsliding worldwide, regional evidence tells a similar story. In April 2025, UN Women’s Regional Office for Arab States and ESCWA released the first edition of “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: A Gender Snapshot of the Arab Region 2024,” offering a closer look at where Arab countries stand.

The global data resonates with regional findings.

The Arab region has made a notable level of progress in advancing women’s and girls’ rights. Maternal mortality dropped by 45% between 2000 and 2020, saving countless lives. Education outcomes have also improved, with 5.5 million more girls completing primary to lower secondary school since 2015. The gap in primary completion between girls and boys has narrowed to just three percentage points. In secondary school, girls are now outperforming boys, with a 68% completion rate compared to 66% for boys. Meanwhile, in the labour market, nearly a quarter of employed women (23%) are working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Despite these gains, serious challenges persist.

None of the Sustainable Development Goal 5 indicators on gender equality are on track, except mobile phone ownership. At the current pace, it would take an astonishing 115 years to close the labour force participation gap between women and men. Only one in five women in the region is employed or actively seeking work, compared to nearly half globally. Harmful practices remain widespread, with 29.4 million girls married before the age of 18. Arab women also shoulder a heavy and unequal burden of unpaid domestic and care work, spending 4.7 times more hours on it than men each day. And while women’s representation in parliaments has increased over the past decade, they still occupy just 18% of seats, leaving decision-making power largely out of reach.

The regional report outlines key recommendations to advance women’s empowerment across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These include accelerating legal reforms, eliminating discrimination against women and girls, and increasing investment in women’s empowerment.

As governments and leaders gather for UNGA80 and the Beijing+30 commemoration, the message is clear: women’s empowerment is both a moral imperative and a strategic investment. With just five years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda, the choice before the world is clear: either allow setbacks to deepen, or act now to deliver rights, opportunities, and shared prosperity for all women and girls.

Read the Global Gender Snapshot 2025 report, released today by UN Women and UN DESA, here

Also see the first edition of the Regional Gender Snapshot for the Arab States (2024), published in April 2025 by UN Women’s Regional Office for Arab States and ESCWA, here