The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked Japan 118th out of 146 countries on gender equality in 2024, but with significant improvement noted in the political empowerment subindex.

Last year, the country was ranked 125th overall in the Global Gender Gap Insight Report, which has been published by the Cologny, Switzerland-based international organization since 2006.

In the 2024 report, released Wednesday, Japan was 113th in the political empowerment subindex, compared with 138th in 2023.

The share of women in legislative, senior official and management roles increased by 1.7 percentage points from 2023 and 4.6 percentage points from 2006, according to the report.

Japan¡¯s gender disparity in senior roles remains significant, with five out of six leadership roles in the nation occupied by men, according to the report.

In the Global Gender Gap Index 2024, which is the overall index, Japan was the lowest-ranked Group of Seven nation, 31 places below Italy, the second-lowest ranked G7 member state.

Japan also fared poorly when compared with other Asian countries. China was ranked 106th, and South Korea was in 94th place.

The report is compiled by the WEF using statistics and a survey of executives.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi vowed to continue promoting women¡¯s participation when asked about the latest ranking at a Wednesday news briefing.

¡°Although there has been an improvement in both the score and ranking compared with last year, it shows that our country¡¯s efforts are still lagging behind other countries. We must humbly accept this reality,¡± Hayashi said, adding that the government is asking political parties to set targets to raise the share of female candidates standing in elections.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party released a plan last June to triple the percentage of its lawmakers who are women from the current 11% to 30% by 2033.

Japan¡¯s lack of women in power was made apparent to the world last June, when it was the only nation to send a male minister to the G7 ministerial meeting on gender equality and women¡¯s empowerment.

In the latest Cabinet reshuffle that took place last September, five women were made Cabinet ministers but not a single woman was among the 26 state ministers and 28 parliamentary vice ministers.