Women, Business and the Law 2026 report released by World Bank Group

Key facts

• World Bank Group released the Women, Business and the Law 2026 report.
• The report finds women’s economic-opportunity laws are only half-enforced globally.
• Only 4% of women worldwide live in economies providing nearly full legal equality.
• The report evaluates women’s economic participation across 10 areas including safety from violence, access to childcare, entrepreneurship, employment protections, asset ownership and retirement security.
• Globally, only a third of needed safety laws exist and enforcement fails 80% of the time.
• About half of economies promote equal access to credit for women entrepreneurs.
• Less than half of 190 economies covered have laws providing financial or tax support for families.
• Among economies with such laws, only 30% of policies needed to support affordable and high-quality childcare services are in place.
• In low-income economies, just 1% of childcare support mechanisms exist.
• Over the past two years, 68 economies enacted 113 positive legal reforms; Sub-Saharan Africa implemented 33 reforms, the largest number of any region.
• Egypt was identified as the world’s top reformer, increasing its legal equality score by nearly 10 points.