Female share of researchers (R&D personnel)
Share of researchers who are women across countries, based on UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) R&D personnel data (headcounts/FTE where reported).
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Key Insights
- •Several countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia report near parity or female majorities among researchers (often ~45–55%).
- •In many low-income countries, the female share of researchers remains below 25%, indicating persistent pipeline and retention barriers.
- •High-income countries vary widely, showing that research gender balance is strongly shaped by national policy, institutions, and labor-market structure rather than income alone.
Country Rankings
Top 10 Countries
Bottom 10 Countries
Data Analysis
Value Distribution
How countries are distributed across the value range
Regional Comparison
Average values by world region (Global avg: 31.6%)
About This Statistic
This statistic measures the percentage of a country’s researchers (people engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods, and systems) who are women. It is drawn from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) reporting on R&D personnel and is commonly used to track gender balance in national science and innovation systems.
Cross-country comparability is generally good, but not perfect: some countries report researchers as headcounts while others report full-time equivalents (FTE), and reference years can differ slightly around the selected year. Despite these caveats, the indicator is widely used for global benchmarking and for monitoring progress toward gender equality in STEM and research careers.
Full Data
| Rank ↑ | Country ↕ | Value ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lithuania | 57.0% |
| 2 | Venezuela | 57.0% |
| 3 | Latvia | 52.0% |
| 4 | Croatia | 51.0% |
| 5 | Kazakhstan | 51.0% |
| 6 | Thailand | 51.0% |
| 7 | Cuba | 49.0% |
| 8 | Mongolia | 49.0% |
| 9 | Uruguay | 49.0% |
| 10 | Serbia | 48.0% |
| 11 | Romania | 47.0% |
| 12 | Costa Rica | 46.0% |
| 13 | Kyrgyzstan | 46.0% |
| 14 | Suriname | 46.0% |
| 15 | Armenia | 46.0% |
| 16 | Brazil | 46.0% |
| 17 | Benin | 45.0% |
| 18 | Moldova, Republic of | 45.0% |
| 19 | South Africa | 45.0% |
| 20 | The Republic of North Macedonia | 45.0% |
| 21 | Egypt | 45.0% |
| 22 | Tunisia | 44.0% |
| 23 | Georgia | 43.0% |
| 24 | Panama | 42.0% |
| 25 | Portugal | 42.0% |
| 26 | Vietnam | 42.0% |
| 27 | Belarus | 41.0% |
| 28 | People's Republic of China | 41.0% |
| 29 | El Salvador | 41.0% |
| 30 | Greece | 41.0% |
| 31 | Nicaragua | 41.0% |
| 32 | Russian Federation | 41.0% |
| 33 | Estonia | 40.0% |
| 34 | Spain | 40.0% |
| 35 | Colombia | 39.0% |
| 36 | Fiji | 39.0% |
| 37 | Slovakia | 39.0% |
| 38 | United Kingdom | 39.0% |
| 39 | Uzbekistan | 39.0% |
| 40 | Dominican Republic | 38.0% |
| 41 | Guatemala | 38.0% |
| 42 | Honduras | 38.0% |
| 43 | Poland | 38.0% |
| 44 | Turkmenistan | 38.0% |
| 45 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 38.0% |
| 46 | Sri Lanka | 37.0% |
| 47 | Cyprus | 37.0% |
| 48 | New Zealand | 37.0% |
| 49 | Angola | 37.0% |
| 50 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 36.0% |
| 51 | Montenegro | 36.0% |
| 52 | Namibia | 36.0% |
| 53 | Paraguay | 36.0% |
| 54 | Philippines | 36.0% |
| 55 | Sweden | 36.0% |
| 56 | Türkiye | 36.0% |
| 57 | Argentina | 36.0% |
| 58 | Ecuador | 35.0% |
| 59 | Faroe Islands | 35.0% |
| 60 | Iceland | 35.0% |
| 61 | Canada | 34.0% |
| 62 | Central African Republic | 34.0% |
| 63 | Chile | 34.0% |
| 64 | Denmark | 34.0% |
| 65 | Islamic Republic of Iran | 34.0% |
| 66 | Italy | 34.0% |
| 67 | Malaysia | 34.0% |
| 68 | Norway | 34.0% |
| 69 | United States of America | 34.0% |
| 70 | Australia | 34.0% |
| 71 | Finland | 33.0% |
| 72 | Kuwait | 33.0% |
| 73 | Mexico | 33.0% |
| 74 | Peru | 33.0% |
| 75 | Seychelles | 33.0% |
| 76 | Syrian Arab Republic | 33.0% |
| 77 | Austria | 33.0% |
| 78 | Indonesia | 32.0% |
| 79 | Slovenia | 32.0% |
| 80 | Trinidad and Tobago | 32.0% |
| 81 | Ireland | 31.0% |
| 82 | Oman | 31.0% |
| 83 | Hungary | 30.0% |
| 84 | Morocco | 30.0% |
| 85 | Mozambique | 30.0% |
| 86 | Singapore | 30.0% |
| 87 | Bulgaria | 29.0% |
| 88 | Falkland Islands (Malvinas) | 29.0% |
| 89 | France | 29.0% |
| 90 | Iraq | 29.0% |
| 91 | Luxembourg | 29.0% |
| 92 | Madagascar | 29.0% |
| 93 | Switzerland | 29.0% |
| 94 | Tajikistan | 29.0% |
| 95 | Belgium | 29.0% |
| 96 | Mayotte | 28.0% |
| 97 | Czech Republic | 28.0% |
| 98 | Germany | 28.0% |
| 99 | Lebanon | 28.0% |
| 100 | Qatar | 28.0% |
| 101 | Zambia | 28.0% |
| 102 | Afghanistan | 28.0% |
| 103 | Bolivia | 28.0% |
| 104 | Netherlands | 27.0% |
| 105 | United Arab Emirates | 27.0% |
| 106 | Albania | 27.0% |
| 107 | Ghana | 25.0% |
| 108 | Zimbabwe | 25.0% |
| 109 | Andorra | 25.0% |
| 110 | Jordan | 24.0% |
| 111 | Algeria | 24.0% |
| 112 | Bahrain | 24.0% |
| 113 | Comoros | 23.0% |
| 114 | Nigeria | 23.0% |
| 115 | United Republic of Tanzania | 23.0% |
| 116 | Burundi | 22.0% |
| 117 | Cameroon | 22.0% |
| 118 | Israel | 22.0% |
| 119 | Kenya | 22.0% |
| 120 | Papua New Guinea | 22.0% |
| 121 | State of Palestine | 21.0% |
| 122 | South Korea | 21.0% |
| 123 | Rwanda | 21.0% |
| 124 | Cote d'Ivoire | 20.0% |
| 125 | Cambodia | 19.0% |
| 126 | Saudi Arabia | 19.0% |
| 127 | Haiti | 18.0% |
| 128 | India | 18.0% |
| 129 | Uganda | 18.0% |
| 130 | Bangladesh | 18.0% |
| 131 | Republic of the Congo | 17.0% |
| 132 | Myanmar | 16.0% |
| 133 | Malawi | 16.0% |
| 134 | Pakistan | 16.0% |
| 135 | Sierra Leone | 16.0% |
| 136 | Guinea | 15.0% |
| 137 | Senegal | 15.0% |
| 138 | Botswana | 15.0% |
| 139 | Republic of The Gambia | 14.0% |
| 140 | Mali | 14.0% |
| 141 | Sudan | 14.0% |
| 142 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 13.0% |
| 143 | Ethiopia | 13.0% |
| 144 | Niger | 12.0% |
| 145 | Togo | 12.0% |
| 146 | Eritrea | 11.0% |
| 147 | Nepal | 10.0% |
| 148 | Yemen | 7.0% |
| 149 | South Sudan | 6.0% |
Topics
Data Source
This data comes from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) (2022).
View Original Source