Countries by Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%)

Rwanda ranks 1st globally for women in national parliaments, with 63.75% of lower chamber seats held by women as of 2024. At the other end, Oman, Tuvalu, and Yemen each record 0%. The 63.75 percentage point gap between the top and bottom of the ranking illustrates the wide variation in legislative gender representation across 193 countries.

Society & Culture category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%)
Rank	Country	%
1	Rwanda	63.75
2	Cuba	55.74
3	Nicaragua	53.85
4	Mexico	50.20
5	Andorra	50.00
5	United Arab Emirates	50.00
7	Costa Rica	49.12
8	Sweden	46.70
9	Bolivia	46.15
10	Iceland	46.03
11	Finland	46.00
12	Monaco	45.83
13	New Zealand	45.53
14	Denmark	45.25
15	South Africa	44.70
16	Norway	44.38
17	Spain	44.29
18	Ecuador	43.07
19	Argentina	42.41
20	Belgium	41.33
21	Ethiopia	41.31
22	Senegal	41.21
23	Moldova	40.82
24	Namibia	40.63
25	United Kingdom	40.46
26	Angola	39.55
27	Guyana	39.44
28	Mozambique	39.20
29	North Macedonia	39.17
30	Cabo Verde	38.89
31	Netherlands	38.67
32	Switzerland	38.50
33	Peru	38.46
34	Burundi	38.21
35	Australia	38.00
35	Serbia	38.00
35	Uzbekistan	38.00
38	Slovenia	37.78
39	Dominica	37.50
40	Tanzania	37.40
41	Dominican Republic	36.84
42	Armenia	36.45
43	Austria	36.07
44	France	36.05
45	Albania	35.71
46	Chile	35.48
47	Timor-Leste	35.38
48	Germany	35.33
49	San Marino	35.00
50	Uganda	33.93
51	Cameroon	33.89
52	Belarus	33.64
53	Luxembourg	33.33
54	Croatia	33.11
55	Nepal	33.09
56	Portugal	32.61
57	South Sudan	32.36
58	Italy	32.25
59	Equatorial Guinea	32.00
59	Latvia	32.00
61	El Salvador	31.67
62	Suriname	31.37
63	Grenada	31.25
63	Saint Kitts and Nevis	31.25
65	Mali	30.66
66	Canada	30.65
67	Vietnam	30.63
68	Sudan	30.52
69	Estonia	29.70
70	Guinea	29.63
71	Poland	29.57
72	Sierra Leone	29.53
73	Colombia	29.41
74	Singapore	29.29
75	Iraq	28.88
76	United States	28.74
77	Trinidad and Tobago	28.57
78	Lithuania	28.37
79	Uruguay	28.28
80	Zimbabwe	28.09
81	Liechtenstein	28.00
82	Malta	27.85
83	Egypt	27.70
84	Jamaica	27.42
85	Honduras	27.34
86	Philippines	27.33
87	Montenegro	27.16
88	Afghanistan	27.02
89	Tajikistan	26.98
90	Barbados	26.67
91	Benin	26.61
92	China	26.54
93	Djibouti	26.15
94	Chad	26.11
95	Czechia	26.00
96	Niger	25.90
97	Turkmenistan	25.60
98	Gabon	25.51
99	Mongolia	25.40
100	Ireland	25.29
101	Israel	25.00
101	Lesotho	25.00
101	Palau	25.00
104	Morocco	24.30
105	Paraguay	23.75
106	Mauritania	23.30
107	Kenya	23.28
108	Greece	23.00
109	Georgia	22.67
109	Slovakia	22.67
111	Venezuela	22.16
112	Eritrea	22.00
113	Laos	21.95
114	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	21.74
115	Eswatini	21.62
116	Panama	21.43
117	Kyrgyzstan	21.11
118	Ukraine	21.09
119	Indonesia	21.03
120	Bangladesh	20.86
121	Bulgaria	20.83
122	Azerbaijan	20.80
123	Malawi	20.73
124	Seychelles	20.59
125	Bahrain	20.00
125	Guatemala	20.00
125	South Korea	20.00
128	Saudi Arabia	19.87
129	Türkiye	19.87
130	Somalia	19.64
131	Jordan	19.57
132	Mauritius	19.40
133	Thailand	19.40
134	Kazakhstan	19.39
135	Romania	19.21
136	Bosnia and Herzegovina	19.05
137	Togo	18.58
138	Burkina Faso	18.31
139	Bahamas	17.95
140	North Korea	17.61
141	Brazil	17.54
142	Pakistan	17.04
143	Comoros	16.67
144	Libya	16.47
145	Russia	16.44
146	Madagascar	15.95
147	Japan	15.70
148	Tunisia	15.69
149	Belize	15.63
150	Micronesia	15.38
151	Myanmar	15.29
152	Zambia	14.97
153	Hungary	14.57
154	Republic of Congo	14.57
155	Ghana	14.55
155	Sao Tome and Principe	14.55
157	Cyprus	14.29
158	India	13.65
159	Cambodia	13.60
160	Malaysia	13.51
161	Côte d'Ivoire	13.39
162	DR Congo	13.00
163	Samoa	12.96
164	Marshall Islands	12.12
165	Brunei	11.76
166	Central African Republic	11.43
167	Kiribati	11.11
167	Saint Lucia	11.11
169	Liberia	10.96
170	Nauru	10.53
171	Sri Lanka	10.00
172	Guinea-Bissau	9.80
173	Syria	9.60
174	Fiji	9.09
175	Botswana	8.70
176	Gambia	8.62
177	Algeria	7.86
178	Tonga	7.14
179	Lebanon	6.25
180	Solomon Islands	6.00
181	Antigua and Barbuda	5.56
182	Iran	4.83
183	Qatar	4.44
184	Bhutan	4.26
185	Nigeria	3.91
186	Maldives	3.23
187	Kuwait	3.08
188	Papua New Guinea	2.70
189	Haiti	2.54
190	Vanuatu	1.96
191	Oman	0.00
191	Tuvalu	0.00
191	Yemen	0.00

Analysis

This metric measures the percentage of parliamentary seats in a single or lower chamber held by women, as recorded in the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code SG.GEN.PARL.ZS) for the 2024 data year. It covers only the single or lower chamber and does not account for upper chambers, appointed bodies, or other legislative structures. The dataset covers all 193 countries included here, with 192 of 193 countries (99.5%) providing data from the last seven years and 100% of datapoints classified as official. Ten extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. The metric is expressed as a percentage, where a higher value indicates a greater share of seats held by women.

The top of the ranking is led by Rwanda (rank 1, 63.75%), the only country to exceed 60%. Cuba (rank 2, 55.74%), Nicaragua (rank 3, 53.85%), and Mexico (rank 4, 50.2%) also surpass 50%. Andorra (rank 5) and the United Arab Emirates (rank 5) both sit exactly at 50%. Among established parliamentary democracies, Sweden (rank 8, 46.70%), Iceland (rank 10, 46.03%), and Finland (rank 11, 46%) all appear in the top 11. South Africa (rank 15, 44.70%) is the highest-ranked country in sub-Saharan Africa after Rwanda.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable clustering between 25% and 35%. The United States ranks 76th at 28.74%, while Japan ranks 147th at 15.70% and India ranks 158th at 13.65%, placing both well below the global median despite their large economies. Afghanistan (rank 88, 27.02%) sits above several European nations including Greece (rank 108, 23%) and Hungary (rank 153, 14.57%). At the bottom, Papua New Guinea (rank 188, 2.70%), Haiti (rank 189, 2.54%), and Vanuatu (rank 190, 1.96%) record near-zero figures, while Oman (rank 191), Tuvalu (rank 191), and Yemen (rank 191) each record exactly 0%.

This metric captures only the share of seats in a single or lower chamber and does not reflect the presence or influence of women in upper chambers, executive branches, or local government. Countries with appointed rather than elected legislatures may report figures through different mechanisms. Where multiple chambers exist, only the lower or single chamber is counted, which can understate or distort the broader picture of women's political participation. Reporting practices and the timing of elections can also cause year-to-year variation unrelated to underlying trends, contributing to the observed average year-over-year change of 9.0% across the dataset.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SG.GEN.PARL.ZS, for the 2024 reference year. The definition applied is: women in parliaments are the percentage of parliamentary seats in a single or lower chamber held by women. The dataset covers 193 countries, all of which have data meeting the 80-country coverage threshold. Of these, 192 of 193 countries (99.5%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality, exceeding the 70% threshold. Ten extreme outliers were flagged using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. Values range from 0.00% to 63.75%, a spread of 999.0%. Average year-over-year change is 9.0%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. The metric excludes upper chambers, appointed bodies, and sub-national legislatures. Countries sharing a rank (e.g., three countries at rank 191 with 0%) reflect tied values in the source data.

Sources

World Bank