R45483 — Statistics on Women in National Governments Around the World
Reports · published 2026-05-07 · v31 · Active · crsreports.congress.gov ↗
- Read
- HTML · PDF
- Authors
- Travis A. Ferrell
- Report id
R45483
Summary
Women and girls make up half of the world’s population. However, in most countries, women are underrepresented in the political process at the national level. As this report shows, on April 1, 2026, women held 27.4% of legislative seats around the world, an increase from 16.6% of legislative seats in April 31, 2006 (see Figure 1). As of April 1, 2026, women held 50% or more of the legislative seats in eight countries: Rwanda, Cuba, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Mexico, Andorra, and the United Arab Emirates (see Table 3). At the executive level, 37 women in 33 countries were elected or selected by elected bodies to serve as heads of state and/or heads of government as of May 1, 2026 (see Table 6). This report provides an overview of women’s roles in national governments and looks at suffrage, representation at the legislative and executive levels, gender quotas, and violence against women in elections.
Bills cited (4)
Curated by CRS — every bill listed in this report's relatedMaterials. Edge type cited_in_report, gold confidence.
- HR 4779 — National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026 · 119th Cong
- HR 1018 — INSTRUCT Act of 2025 · 119th Cong
- SRES 640 — A resolution supporting the goals of International Women's Day. · 119th Cong
- SRES 599 — A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that protecting and advancing the rights of women an · 119th Cong