Global count: How many women lead the world?
Claudia Sheinbaum and Maia Sandu recently joined the ranks of female heads of state, with Sandu winning in Moldova while Kamala Harris fell short in the U.S. elections. Yet, with only a handful of countries worldwide led by women, the question remains: how many female leaders are at the helm of global politics, and what impact does this representation have on equality, Kazinform News Agency correspondent explores.
Globally, women still constitute a minority in leadership roles, with only a small portion of top political positions among the 193 members of the United Nations. Women today occupy 21% of Prime Minister positions, 26% of legislative seats, and 34% of local government offices. Female Prime Ministers of nations including Bangladesh, Iceland, Italy, Aruba, Uganda, and Samoa add to the 29 countries with women in high political positions overall, either as prime ministers or presidents.
Apart from monarchies, just seven of the top 50 economies in the world today have a female head of state or government, according to a recent Foreign Policy poll. These include three European, two South Asian, and two Latin American nations. In this regard, countries including the United States, China, Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia are yet to choose a female leader. 34 of these 50 countries (68%) have had at least one female leader, and 13 have had more than one.
Historically, women's path to top leadership posts started with Sirimavo Bandaranaike, elected as the first female prime minister of Sri Lanka in 1960, then Isabel Perón of Argentina, the first woman to hold the presidency in 1974. The longest-serving female heads of state are Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland, who served 16 years each. While nations like Mexico, Peru, and Tanzania also have female heads of state that manage both duties, only Barbados has both head of state and head of government as women.
Data by Women Political Leaders (WPL) shows that developments in economic equality are strongly correlated with women's political presence. Higher Women, Business, and the Law (WBL) ratings indicate that nations with greater numbers of women in parliament and ministerial offices are more likely to have inclusive legislation that advances gender equality in the economy. WBL scores 10–17% higher in nations where women occupy at least half of parliamentary or ministerial seats than in those with less female leaders on average.
Moreover, countries headed by women often score 10% higher in measures of economic equality, therefore highlighting the favorable influence of female political presence on economic policies. With 14 countries, including those with high WBL ratings, achieving legal economic equality by 2022, economic development also corresponds with women's political representation.
Still, reaching worldwide political parity and legal economic equality is a long-term objective, projected to take about 30 years if present trends keep.
