Ranked: Countries with the highest share of women in parliament
From Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas to Sheikh Hasina from Bangladesh, women have significantly boosted their share of seats in parliament. But the United States still lags well behind much of the world regarding female representation – ranking just 66th on a list compiled by the CEOWORLD magazine.
The country at the top of the list may surprise some. Rwanda boasts by far the best record for female representation in parliament — women constitute 61.25% of the Rwandan parliament (lower or single house). This makes Rwanda the country with the highest share of women in parliament worldwide. Nicaragua had the second-highest percentage of female MPs, with 51.65 percent, followed by New Zealand. Only two other countries have more women in parliament than men – Nicaragua (51.65%) and New Zealand (50.42%).
Latin American and Caribbean nations also take a further three spots in the top 10 – Nicaragua (51.65%), Mexico (50%), and Costa Rica (47.37%). The European country with the highest percentage of women in their parliament was Iceland, with 47.62 percent.
These countries have the most women in parliament
| Global rank | Countries | Women in parliament |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rwanda | 61.25 |
| 2 | Nicaragua | 51.65 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 50.42 |
| 4 | Mexico | 50 |
| 5 | United Arab Emirates | 50 |
| 6 | Iceland | 47.62 |
| 7 | Costa Rica | 47.37 |
| 8 | South Africa | 46.5 |
| 9 | Andorra | 46.43 |
| 10 | Sweden | 46.42 |
Women make up half of the world’s population, and yet they are still largely excluded from politics and decision-making power. Did you know that over half of the countries in the world have never had a female leader? However, even when a woman is in charge, it doesn’t always guarantee greater representation for women. For instance, Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh since January 2009, and Bangladesh has only 20.86% of women in the parliament. It’s encouraging to see a rise in the number of women taking on leadership roles in governments worldwide. More and more women are securing positions in national parliaments, and numerous countries are implementing parliamentary quotas to ensure fair representation.
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