⚠️ Unconfirmedsocial2022
Share of seats held by women on boards of the largest publicly listed companies (%)
Women’s share of board seats in the largest listed companies, based on the World Bank Gender Data Portal (ILO modelled estimates), 2022.
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Key Insights
Global Average
15.0%
Median: 11.2%
Countries Covered
170
with available data
Highest
France
45.2%
Lowest
North Korea
0.0%
Top 5 Countries
1France45.2%
2Iceland41.5%
3Norway41.1%
4Italy40.1%
5United Kingdom39.9%
By Region
Oceania34.4%(2 countries)
Europe28.3%(31 countries)
North America19.4%(4 countries)
South America15.5%(7 countries)
Other11.4%(93 countries)
Key Findings
- •Women remain underrepresented on corporate boards in most countries, often below 20%.
- •A number of European economies reach 30–45%+ women on boards, consistent with stronger governance reforms and/or quotas.
- •Many countries in the Middle East and parts of South Asia show low single-digit shares, indicating large leadership gaps.
- •The metric highlights that gender inequality persists even where women’s educational attainment is high, pointing to barriers in senior corporate promotion pathways.
Country Rankings
Top 10 Countries
Bottom 10 Countries
Data Analysis
Value Distribution
How countries are distributed across the value range
Low (0.0%)High (50.0%)
Regional Comparison
Average values by world region (Global avg: 15.0%)
Oceania (2)
Europe (31)
North America (4)
South America (7)
Other (93)
Africa (9)
Asia (24)
About This Statistic
This statistic measures the percentage of board seats held by women in the largest publicly listed companies in each country. It is commonly used as a governance and gender-equality indicator, reflecting how corporate decision-making power is distributed at the top of the private sector.
The World Bank Gender Data Portal publishes this indicator using International Labour Organization (ILO) modelled estimates, which harmonize available country reporting and comparable definitions across economies. Differences across countries can reflect laws or quotas, investor pressure, labor-market pipelines into senior leadership, and corporate governance practices.
Full Data
| Rank ↑ | Country ↕ | Value ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 45.2% |
| 2 | Iceland | 41.5% |
| 3 | Norway | 41.1% |
| 4 | Italy | 40.1% |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 39.9% |
| 6 | Denmark | 38.2% |
| 7 | Sweden | 36.8% |
| 8 | Netherlands | 36.4% |
| 9 | Spain | 36.0% |
| 10 | Australia | 35.1% |
| 11 | Finland | 34.0% |
| 12 | New Zealand | 33.7% |
| 13 | Belgium | 33.5% |
| 14 | Lithuania | 33.1% |
| 15 | Latvia | 32.8% |
| 16 | Antigua and Barbuda | 30.8% |
| 17 | United States of America | 30.6% |
| 18 | Ireland | 30.2% |
| 19 | Canada | 29.7% |
| 20 | Croatia | 29.1% |
| 21 | Poland | 28.5% |
| 22 | Argentina | 27.9% |
| 23 | Malaysia | 26.7% |
| 24 | Slovenia | 26.4% |
| 25 | Bahamas | 26.3% |
| 26 | Switzerland | 26.1% |
| 27 | Hungary | 26.0% |
| 28 | Montenegro | 25.4% |
| 29 | Israel | 24.8% |
| 30 | Moldova, Republic of | 24.7% |
| 31 | South Africa | 24.3% |
| 32 | Botswana | 24.1% |
| 33 | Estonia | 23.6% |
| 34 | Greece | 22.9% |
| 35 | The Republic of North Macedonia | 22.6% |
| 36 | Seychelles | 22.4% |
| 37 | Fiji | 21.8% |
| 38 | Serbia | 21.6% |
| 39 | Slovakia | 21.2% |
| 40 | Austria | 21.2% |
| 41 | Portugal | 21.0% |
| 42 | Aruba | 20.8% |
| 43 | Armenia | 20.5% |
| 44 | Belarus | 20.1% |
| 45 | Uruguay | 19.6% |
| 46 | Czech Republic | 19.4% |
| 47 | Nepal | 19.1% |
| 48 | Georgia | 18.9% |
| 49 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 18.8% |
| 50 | Costa Rica | 18.6% |
| 51 | Luxembourg | 18.2% |
| 52 | Namibia | 18.1% |
| 53 | Thailand | 17.7% |
| 54 | India | 17.3% |
| 55 | Rwanda | 17.2% |
| 56 | Türkiye | 17.2% |
| 57 | Philippines | 17.0% |
| 58 | Suriname | 16.8% |
| 59 | Jamaica | 15.6% |
| 60 | Ukraine | 15.3% |
| 61 | Singapore | 15.1% |
| 62 | Chile | 14.9% |
| 63 | Brazil | 14.7% |
| 64 | Mauritius | 14.6% |
| 65 | Romania | 14.4% |
| 66 | Indonesia | 14.2% |
| 67 | Cayman Islands | 14.1% |
| 68 | Cuba | 14.0% |
| 69 | Kenya | 13.9% |
| 70 | People's Republic of China | 13.8% |
| 71 | Benin | 13.7% |
| 72 | Colombia | 13.3% |
| 73 | South Korea | 13.1% |
| 74 | Trinidad and Tobago | 13.0% |
| 75 | Cyprus | 12.7% |
| 76 | Japan | 12.4% |
| 77 | Uganda | 12.4% |
| 78 | United Republic of Tanzania | 12.3% |
| 79 | Albania | 12.3% |
| 80 | Tunisia | 12.1% |
| 81 | Paraguay | 11.8% |
| 82 | Morocco | 11.6% |
| 83 | Andorra | 11.5% |
| 84 | Azerbaijan | 11.3% |
| 85 | Bulgaria | 11.2% |
| 86 | Panama | 11.2% |
| 87 | Dominican Republic | 11.1% |
| 88 | Russian Federation | 11.0% |
| 89 | Madagascar | 10.7% |
| 90 | Kazakhstan | 10.6% |
| 91 | Timor-Leste | 10.6% |
| 92 | Ethiopia | 10.4% |
| 93 | Zambia | 10.4% |
| 94 | Zimbabwe | 10.2% |
| 95 | Venezuela | 10.2% |
| 96 | Angola | 10.2% |
| 97 | Lesotho | 10.1% |
| 98 | Guyana | 10.0% |
| 99 | Vietnam | 10.0% |
| 100 | Sri Lanka | 9.9% |
| 101 | Barbados | 9.8% |
| 102 | Mexico | 9.7% |
| 103 | Cameroon | 9.6% |
| 104 | Kyrgyzstan | 9.5% |
| 105 | Solomon Islands | 9.4% |
| 106 | Malta | 9.3% |
| 107 | Nigeria | 9.3% |
| 108 | Ecuador | 9.2% |
| 109 | Mozambique | 9.2% |
| 110 | Sierra Leone | 9.1% |
| 111 | Bahrain | 9.1% |
| 112 | Malawi | 9.0% |
| 113 | Papua New Guinea | 9.0% |
| 114 | Brunei Darussalam | 9.0% |
| 115 | Ghana | 8.9% |
| 116 | Burundi | 8.7% |
| 117 | Peru | 8.7% |
| 118 | Eswatini | 8.7% |
| 119 | Cote d'Ivoire | 8.5% |
| 120 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 8.4% |
| 121 | Honduras | 8.3% |
| 122 | Senegal | 8.2% |
| 123 | Bolivia | 8.2% |
| 124 | Republic of the Congo | 8.1% |
| 125 | Nicaragua | 8.1% |
| 126 | Sudan | 8.1% |
| 127 | El Salvador | 7.9% |
| 128 | Eritrea | 7.8% |
| 129 | Haiti | 7.7% |
| 130 | Guatemala | 7.6% |
| 131 | Comoros | 7.5% |
| 132 | Vanuatu | 7.5% |
| 133 | Bangladesh | 7.4% |
| 134 | Cambodia | 7.3% |
| 135 | Somalia | 7.3% |
| 136 | Central African Republic | 7.2% |
| 137 | Jordan | 7.2% |
| 138 | Mauritania | 7.2% |
| 139 | Burkina Faso | 7.2% |
| 140 | Republic of The Gambia | 7.1% |
| 141 | Guinea-Bissau | 7.1% |
| 142 | Tajikistan | 7.1% |
| 143 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 7.0% |
| 144 | Liberia | 7.0% |
| 145 | New Caledonia | 7.0% |
| 146 | South Sudan | 7.0% |
| 147 | Uzbekistan | 7.0% |
| 148 | Cape Verde | 6.9% |
| 149 | Togo | 6.9% |
| 150 | Guinea | 6.8% |
| 151 | Djibouti | 6.7% |
| 152 | Lebanon | 6.6% |
| 153 | Iraq | 6.5% |
| 154 | Myanmar | 6.4% |
| 155 | Mali | 6.3% |
| 156 | Libya | 6.1% |
| 157 | Belize | 6.1% |
| 158 | Chad | 6.0% |
| 159 | Niger | 6.0% |
| 160 | United Arab Emirates | 6.0% |
| 161 | Pakistan | 5.5% |
| 162 | Islamic Republic of Iran | 5.2% |
| 163 | Egypt | 5.0% |
| 164 | Algeria | 4.6% |
| 165 | Kuwait | 4.2% |
| 166 | Qatar | 4.1% |
| 167 | Oman | 3.9% |
| 168 | Saudi Arabia | 2.8% |
| 169 | Yemen | 1.5% |
| 170 | North Korea | 0.0% |
Showing 170 of 170 countries
Topics
Data Source
This data comes from World Bank (Gender Data Portal) / ILO modelled estimates (2022).
View Original Source