A woman fills up an application form during a job fair in Manila, the Philippines, June 12, 2013. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

GENEVA, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Progress towards parity between men and women in terms of economic opportunity has slowed dramatically with the gap standing larger than at any point since 2008, warned the World Economic Forum in a report published on Wednesday.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2016 found that, despite working longer hours, women around the world on average earn just over half of what men earn.

It also noted the stagnant women labour force participation, standing at 54 percent, compared to 81 percent for men, adding that economic parity between the sexes could take 170 years.

The number of women in senior positions also remains stubbornly low, the report added.

The report is an annual benchmarking exercise that measures progress towards parity between men and women in four areas: educational attainment, health and survival, economic opportunity and political empowerment.

The Nordic nations stand still as world's most gender-equal societies, with Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden as the leading four nations.

Away from economics, the education gender gap has closed 1 percent over the past year to over 95 percent, making it one of the two areas where most progress has been made to date, while health and survival, the other pillar to have closed 96 percent of its gap, has deteriorated minimally.