Closing the gender digital divide could lift 30 million women out of poverty

The newly released Gender Snapshot 2025 report by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) shows that the world is at a crossroads. With targeted investments, gender equality is within reach.

Girls are now more likely to complete school than ever before, and maternal mortality declined by nearly 40 per cent between 2000 and 2023. Rates of intimate partner violence are 2.5 times lower in countries with comprehensive measures on violence – including laws, policies, institutional mechanisms, research and data, prevention, services, and budgets – compared to those with weak protections. Women's leadership in climate talks has doubled. In the past five years, 99 new or reformed laws have removed barriers to gender equality.

UN Women and UN DESA launched the Gender Snapshot 2025 today at a press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York on the margins of UNGA80. The report highlights both the costs of failing to invest in gender equality and the potential gains.

"Where gender equality has been prioritised, 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."

At the same time, an unprecedented backlash on women's rights, shrinking civic space, and growing defunding of gender equality initiatives is threatening hard-won gains. If current trends continue, 351 million women and girls will still be living in extreme poverty by 2030. Conflict is becoming deadlier for women and girls. Today, 676 million women and girls live within reach of deadly conflict – the highest recorded since the 1990s. In 2024, 64 million more female adults were moderately or severely food insecure than male adults. The data shows that the world is retreating on gender equality, but with investment and political will, this trend can be reversed.

"Only five years remain to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with targets aimed at making gender equality a reality for all. The Gender Snapshot 2025 shows that the costs of failure are immense but so are the gains from gender equality. Accelerated action and interventions focused on care, education, the green economy, labour markets, and social protection could reduce the number of women and girls in extreme poverty by 110 million by 2050, unlocking an estimated $342 trillion in cumulative economic returns," said Li Junhua, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

The Gender Snapshot report is the world's leading source of data on gender equality and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Drawing from more than 100 data sources, it tracks progress for women and girls across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2025 edition shows that with five years left to achieve the SDGs, the world is currently on track to miss every indicator under SDG5, the gender equality goal.

"As world leaders gather in New York for UNGA80, and to commemorate 30 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on 22 September, the Beijing+30 Action Agenda provides a clear path forward towards rights, equality, and empowerment for all women and girls. It outlines six priority areas for accelerated implementation: freedom from poverty, zero violence, equal power and leadership, climate justice, peace and security, and full participation in the digital revolution. Cutting across the six is amplifying the voices of young women and girls. I encourage all leaders to make commitments and investments towards this and to choose a world where women's rights are delivered at scale, and the returns are shared by all," concluded Bahous.