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Law in Charts · Women, work and the law

Women in ministerial positions

What share of ministers are women, in each country?

192 of 192 shown in the list

% of ministerial positions held by women

  1. Namibia64.3% 2025
  2. Finland61.1% 2025
  3. Nicaragua60.0% 2025
  4. Colombia55.6% 2025
  5. Australia54.5% 2025
  6. Sweden52.2% 2025
  7. Canada50.0% 2025
  8. Ecuador50.0% 2025
  9. Germany50.0% 2025
  10. Guatemala50.0% 2025
  11. Iceland50.0% 2025
  12. Seychelles50.0% 2025
  13. Spain50.0% 2025
  14. United Kingdom50.0% 2025
  15. Mexico47.6% 2025
  16. Norway47.4% 2025
  17. Albania46.2% 2025
  18. Andorra46.2% 2025
  19. Chile45.8% 2025
  20. Ethiopia45.5% 2025
  21. France45.0% 2025
  22. South Africa40.6% 2025
  23. Liechtenstein40.0% 2025
  24. Monaco40.0% 2025
  25. Sao Tome and Principe40.0% 2025

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women, Proportion of women in ministerial level positions (%), via the World Bank. Data for 2020 to 2025. What it counts, how to cite it and the data

At a glance

  • 192 countries or territories have a figure.
  • The highest is Namibia at 64.3% (2025) and the lowest is Azerbaijan at 0.0% (2025).
  • The middle value (the median) is 21.5%.

What it counts

The proportion of women in ministerial or equivalent positions, including deputy prime ministers, as compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women.

What it leaves out, and how far to trust a comparison

The figure counts positions at one date and does not show which ministries women lead. A small cabinet can swing sharply with one appointment.

Source

Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women: Proportion of women in ministerial level positions (%), via the World Bank, compiled in World Bank, World Development Indicators. Source licence: CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.

Cite this chart

Free to use in teaching, articles, reports and slides, with credit. Our compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0; the source publishes the underlying data under its own licence, shown below.

Reference (APA style)

TheLawToKnow. (2026). Women in ministerial positions [Chart]. Law in Charts. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/women-in-government. Data: Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women, Proportion of women in ministerial level positions (%), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.MNST.ZS (data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25).

Short credit for slides and websites

Chart: TheLawToKnow, Law in Charts (https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/women-in-government). Data: Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women, via World Bank, World Development Indicators.

BibTeX

@misc{womeningovernment2026,
  author = {{TheLawToKnow}},
  title = {Women in ministerial positions},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Law in Charts},
  url = {https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/women-in-government},
  note = {Data: Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women, Proportion of women in ministerial level positions (%), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.MNST.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.}
}

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