Iceland

Parliament

Political system: Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament: Unicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members: 63
Women: 30
Percentage of women: 47.6%

Speaker

No information available

Secretary general

Secretary General: Ragna Árnadóttir (Female)

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body	Theme	Name	Sex	Age
Finance Committee	Finance	Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir	Female	58

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2021-11)

Breakdown of members by age and gender
	18 - 20	21 - 30	31 - 40	41 - 45	46 - 50	51 - 60	61 - 70	71 - 80	81 - 90	91 and over	Totals per gender
Male	0	1	3	5	4	13	6	1	0	0	33
Female	0	4	5	8	2	9	2	0	0	0	30
Totals per age interval	0	5	8	13	6	22	8	1	0	0	63
	Total <= 45: 26				Total >= 46: 37

Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal	Overall	Male	Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger	7.9%	1.6%	6.3%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger	20.6%	6%	14.3%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger	41.3%	14%	27.0%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups: No
Electoral quota for women: Yes

Notes: Voluntary political party quotas.

Sources: Cf. individual party statues.

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament: 1922

Notes: 1922: total seats according to Wikipedia

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker: 1974

Women’s suffrage

Women’s right to vote: 1882
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: In 1882, the King approved a change in voting qualifications such that widows and other unmarried women who headed farming households, or who in some other way were independent householders were given the right to vote and stand for elections in local ele

Women’s right to vote: 1908
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Women’s right to vote: 1915
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: Right to vote was limited to those women who were over 40 and did not owe repayable poor relief.

Women’s right to vote: 1920
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Notes: Minimum age of 25

Women's right to stand for election: 1915
Restricted or universal: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: Right to stand for election was limited to those women who were over 40 and did not own any repayable poor relief.

Women's right to stand for election: 1920
Restricted or universal: Universal

Notes: Minimum age of 25

Women's caucus

Women's caucuses or parliamentary groups that bring together women parliamentarians to strengthen cooperation and amplify their voices. For other parliamentary bodies or committees that have a specific mandate to address gender equality matters, see the ‘Specialized body – Gender equality’ tab.

There is currently no women's caucus in this chamber.

Updated at	Current number of members
1987-01	63
1960-01	60
1959-10	52
1959-05	60
1946-01	52

Updated at	Women
2021-09	30
2020-12	25
2017-10	24
2016-10	30
2014-12	26
2013-04	25
2009-01	27
2008-01	20
2007-12	21
2007-05	20
2003-05	19
1999-01	22
1995-01	16
1991-01	15
1987-01	13
1983-01	9
1971-01	3
1963-01	1
1959-05	2
1956-01	1
1953-01	0
1949-01	2
1946-01	1

Updated at	Percentage of women
2021-09	47.6%
2020-12	39.7%
2017-10	38.1%
2016-10	47.6%
2014-12	41.3%
2013-04	39.7%
2009-01	42.9%
2008-01	31.7%
2007-12	33.3%
2007-05	31.7%
2003-05	30.2%
1999-01	34.9%
1995-01	25.4%
1991-01	23.8%
1987-01	20.6%
1983-01	15.0%
1971-01	5.0%
1963-01	1.7%
1960-01	3.3%
1959-10	3.8%
1959-05	3.3%
1956-01	1.9%
1953-01	0.0%
1949-01	3.8%
1946-01	1.9%