Bangladesh has again topped South Asia in terms of gender equality, said the World Economic Forum. Bangladesh jumped 25 notches to 47th place in the Global Gender Gap ranking 2017 , closing the gender gap by 72%, said the study published on Thursday. According to the report, Bangladesh scored 0.719 on the gender parity index and was ranked the highest among South Asian nations. Maldives was the second highest ranked South Asian nation at 106th place. India slipped down the rankings by 21 places and ranked 108th while Sri Lanka ranked 109th, Nepal 111th, Bhutan 124th and Pakistan 143rd. Bangladesh ranked 7th among 155 countries in the political empowerment category, and performed the worst in the economic participation and opportunity category, in which it ranked 129th. Bangladesh ranked 72nd last year. Through the Global Gender Gap Report, the World Economic Forum quantifies the magnitude of gender disparity in various countries and tracks their progress in addressing the issue over time, with a specific focus on the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics. The 2017 Report covers 144 countries.