Pakistan, May 31 -- Pakistan faces severe gender gaps in employment and finance, with nearly 47 million women outside the labor force and around 55 million women lacking access to formal banking, according to a new World Bank report. The report, Women's Economic Empowerment in Pakistan, stresses that including women is essential to tackling the country's economic and social challenges.

The gender pay gap remains a major hurdle. Women earn about 18% less than men on average, though this gap has narrowed from 40% in 1999. However, this improvement partly results from men's wages decreasing rather than a major rise in women's earnings. Women still face obstacles like limited mobility, safety concerns, and barriers to market access, land own...