Women in National parliaments
Situation as of 30 September 2010


Comparative data by country The data in the tables below has been compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by National Parliaments by 30 September 2010. The percentages do not take into account the case of parliaments for which no data was available at that date. Comparative data on the percentage of women in each National Parliament as well as data concerning the two regional parliamentary assemblies elected by direct suffrage can be found on separate pages. You can use the PARLINE database to view detailed results of parliamentary elections by country. Regional parliamentary assemblies
New: you can now consult an archive of statistical data on women in National Parliaments.


World average
Both Houses combined
Total MPs 44'682
Gender breakdown known for 43'660
Men 35'325
Women 8'335
Percentage of women 19.1%


Single House or lower House
Total MPs 37'750
Gender breakdown known for 37'170
Men 30'013
Women 7'157
Percentage of women 19.3%
Upper House or Senate
Total MPs 6'932
Gender breakdown known for 6'490
Men 5'312
Women 1'178
Percentage of women 18.2%

Regional averages
Regions are classified by descending order of the percentage of women in the lower or single House
Single House
or lower House
Upper House
or Senate
Both Houses
combined
Nordic countries 41.6% --- ---
Americas 22.7% 22.6% 22.7%
Europe - OSCE member countries
including Nordic countries
21.9% 19.4% 21.4%
Europe - OSCE member countries
excluding Nordic countries
20.1% 19.4% 19.9%
Sub-Saharan Africa 19.1% 20.5% 19.2%
Asia 18.4% 17.0% 18.3%
Pacific 12.6% 15,4% 12.7%
Arab States 11.1% 8.1% 10.5%

Women in politicsHome pageAreas of activityFunctioning and documents