Women in National parliaments
Situation as of 31 July 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 31 July 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 44'649
Gender breakdown known for 44'117
Men 35'657
Women 8'460
Percentage of women 19.2%


Single House or lower House
Total MPs 37'740
Gender breakdown known for 37'574
Men 30'318
Women 7'256
Percentage of women 19.3%
Upper House or Senate
Total MPs 6'909
Gender breakdown known for 6'543
Men 5'339
Women 1'204
Percentage of women 18.4%

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 42.1% --- ---
Americas 22.5% 22.6% 22.5%
Europe - OSCE member countries
including Nordic countries
22.0% 19.4% 21.5%
Europe - OSCE member countries
excluding Nordic countries
20.1% 19.4% 19.9%
Sub-Saharan Africa 19.0% 20.9% 19.2%
Asia 18.7% 17.0% 18.5%
Pacific 13.2% 32,6% 15.3%
Arab States 11.1% 8.1% 10.5%

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