Women held 33% of seats in national parliaments in the EU in 2020. This share has been rising since 2004, when women accounted for around one-fifth (21%) of members in national parliaments.
Highest share of female parliamentarians in Sweden
While the share of seats held by women in national parliaments varies considerably between EU countries, no EU country had more women than men holding seats in parliament.
In 2020, the highest share of female members in national parliaments was recorded in Sweden, where women accounted for almost a half of parliamentarians (close to 50%), ahead of Finland (46%), Belgium (43%) and Spain (both 42%).
At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest shares were recorded in Hungary and Malta (both 13%).
Source dataset: sdg_05_50
Over half of government members are female in Finland, Austria, Sweden and France
Over the past years, the share of female members of government (senior and junior ministers) in the EU increased as well: from 20% in 2004 to 33% in 2020.
In 2020, Finland had the highest share of female members in its government (55%). Finland was followed by Austria (53%), Sweden (52%), France (51%) and Belgium (50%).In contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Malta (8%), Greece (11%) and Estonia (13%).
Source dataset: sdg_05_50
The number of female presidents and prime ministers in the EU also rose since 2004. Today, four out of 27 heads of government are women, whereas there were none in 2004. Over this period, there were never more than four female presidents or prime ministers at the same time.
For more information:
- A national parliament is the national legislative assembly. The indicator refers to both chambers (lower and upper house, where relevant). Included are also the president/speaker/leader of the parliament.
- The national government is the executive body with authority to govern a country or a state. Members of government include both senior ministers (who sit in the cabinet or council of ministers, including the prime minister) and junior ministers. Some countries count state-secretaries (or the national equivalent) as junior ministers within the government but in others, they are not considered members of government.
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