Gilmour is the second highest ranked European women's singles player behind Spain's No. 1 Carolina Marin. She rose from No. 17 last week, leapfrogging her previous best ranking achieved in September 2014 thanks to her success at reaching the last 16 at last week's BCA Indonesia Open, when she defeated world No. 12 Sayaka Sato of Japan.
But the rise is also rich reward for her silver medal at the European Championships in France in a performance which brought to an end her successful year-long Olympic qualifying campaign and also made her Scotland's first medal winner in singles at the Euros.
Gilmour, who is in Sydney at the Xiamenair Australian Open, said: "I had calculated that I would possibly reach 16 so 15 is a bonus!
"I'm really pleased to be in this position, especially in an Olympic year when the competition has been fierce. I feel it's a good reflection of my level just now but also, now that I'm there, I want to push on further.
"It's a lovely feeling and proves that I'm capable of making these small gains. So now I'm just looking to the coming months and preparing to be in the best shape possible for the summer."
Anne Smillie, Chief Executive of BADMINTONscotland, said: "This is great news and is richly deserved. Number 15 makes her Scotland's highest ranked singles player since world rankings were introduced and she can now look forward to being seeded at the Rio Olympics in August.
"I am sure this is just the start of a great career. Kirsty is still only 22 and has many years ahead of her during which time I expect her to climb even higher. Obviously we are hoping she reaches her peak during next summer's TOTAL BWF Badminton World Championships in Glasgow!"
Scotland's previous highest-ranked singles player was 2012 Olympic squad member Susan Egelstaff at No. 19. As it happens, Egelstaff narrowly lost to Sato in three games in the group stages in London four years ago.
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