The state of women's health in numbers

Women account for half of the global population, they are essential to economic growth and societal wellbeing, yet their health still lags behind men’s. And despite greater longevity, women spend more years in declining health. Here are some surprising statistics that show just how persistent the health gap remains – and where efforts should focus to close it.

Women tend to live longer than men, but spend 25% more of their lives in poor health or with disabilities than men. This amounts to 75 million years of life lost due to the women’s health gap – diminishing well-being, reducing workforce participation and carrying substantial economic consequences. Contributors to these losses include barriers to women’s care, limited data on women’s health, and a default that relies on male biology, resulting in less understanding and fewer treatments for women.

Addressing women’s poorer health outcomes compared with men’s could boost the global economy by at least $1 trillion annually by 2040.

This is because health is directly correlated with economic prosperity. Improvements in women’s health have been shown to increase labour participation and productivity. In turn, targeted investment in this area can boost productivity, resilience and long-term growth, according to the World Economic Forum’s Women’s Health Investment Outlook 2026.

Health disparities between genders are worsened by limited investment in women’s health and a shortage of products and services tailored to their needs. Only 6% of the ~$2.9 trillion in total private healthcare capital is spent on conditions affecting women. Of these single-digit investments, the majority – 90% – of capital is allocated to just three areas: women’s cancers, reproductive health and maternal health. However, many other conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women compared with men are largely neglected.

Women-specific conditions such as endometriosis, menopause and polycystic ovary syndrome, which affect the lives of millions of women around the world, receive under 2% of private healthcare funding, the Women’s Health Investment Outlook found. Yet these are among the most debilitating for women globally.

Addressing such underfunded therapeutic areas in women’s health could unlock more than $100 billion in market opportunity by 2030. These include cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, menopause and Alzheimer’s. Those four areas alone could create $100 billion or more in US investment opportunities, research from the Boston Consulting Group finds.

Only around 5% of clinical trials report sex-disaggregated data. Without this specific reporting, medical evidence remains incomplete, masking how treatment responses and physical mechanisms vary between men and women. This 'data gap' means women are often prescribed treatments based on research that primarily reflects male biology.

A population-wide analysis covering two decades of health data revealed that women are diagnosed later than men for more than 700 diseases by four years on average. Diagnostic hurdles remain a primary barrier to equity. Only 2 in 10 women receive a correct menopause diagnosis when first seeking help. Similarly, conditions like endometriosis can take more than seven years to be correctly identified, leading to years of preventable pain and health complications.

The World Economic Forum is actively closing these gaps through the Global Alliance for Women's Health, a multisector platform dedicated to redesigning the future of care. Supported by the Champions for Women's Health – a coalition of global leaders – the Forum is driving the policy shifts, innovation and large-scale investment required to turn the $1 trillion economic potential into a reality of better health, dignity and longevity for women worldwide.