UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- An additional 360 billion U.S. dollars in investment per year is needed to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment across key global goals by 2030, said a new UN report launched on Thursday.

The publication, "Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2023", was jointly produced by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The latest annual report provided a comprehensive analysis of the current state of gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals and highlighted prevailing trends, gaps and recent setbacks on the journey toward achieving gender equality by 2030.

It painted a worrisome picture halfway through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, indicating that the world is falling short of achieving gender equality despite global efforts.

The report warned that, if current trends continue, more than 340 million women and girls, or an estimated 8 percent of the world's female population, will live in extreme poverty by 2030, and close to one in four will experience moderate or severe food insecurity.

The gender gap in power and leadership positions remains entrenched, the report said, noting that at the current rate of progress, the next generation of women will still spend on average 2.3 more hours per day on unpaid care and domestic work than men.

It underscored the urgent need for concrete efforts to accelerate progress toward gender equality by 2030.

The report called for an integrated and holistic approach, greater collaboration among stakeholders, sustained funding and policy actions to address gender disparities and empower women and girls worldwide, concluding that failure to prioritize gender equality now could jeopardize the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.