Women in National parliaments
Situation as of 31 March 2004


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 31 March 2004. 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 MPs42'466
Gender breakdown known for39'381
Men33'328
Women6'053
Percentage of women15.4%


Single House or lower House
Total MPs36'131
Gender breakdown known for33'460
Men28'281
Women5'179
Percentage of women15.5%
Upper House or Senate
Total MPs6'335
Gender breakdown known for5'921
Men5'047
Women874
Percentage of women14.8%

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 39.7% --- 39.7%
Europe - OSCE member countries
including Nordic countries
18.4% 15.3% 17.8%
Americas 18.2% 18.2% 18.2%
Europe - OSCE member countries
excluding Nordic countries
16.4% 15.3% 16.1%
Asia 15.0% 14.0% 14.9%
Sub-Saharan Africa 14.2% 12.8% 14.1%
Pacific 10.9% 20.5% 12.2%
Arab States 6.0% 7.5% 6.2%

Women in politicsHome pageAreas of activityFunctioning and documents