Global and regional averages of women in national parliaments

Each month, IPU publishes global and regional averages of the percentage of women in national parliaments. See the monthly ranking for the data used to compile the averages.

The data in this table has been compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by national parliaments.

Figures correspond to the number of seats filled in Parliament at the given time. These averages may evolve over time based on updates received from Parliaments.

See the regional groupings of countries used to make the regional averages.

The regions in the table below are listed by percentage of seats held by women in lower and single chambers.

Global and regional averages for 1997-2018 are available on the IPU archive site.

Averages as of 1st November 2022

Global averages
Lower chamber and unicameral Upper chamber All chambers
Total MPs 37,536 7,061 44,597
Gender breakdown known for 37,536 7,061 44,597
Men 27,599 5,240 32,839
Women 9,937 1,821 11,758
Percentage of women 26.5% 25.8% 26.4%
Regional averages
Region Lower chamber and unicameral Upper chamber All chambers
Americas 34.7% 34.2% 34.6%
Caribbean 41.0% 32.2% 39.7%
North America 37.5% 41.5% 38.3%
South America 30.9% 29.6% 30.6%
Central America 29.4% 35.7% 29.5%
Europe 31.0% 30.4% 30.9%
Nordic countries 44.8% 44.8%
Western Europe 36.3% 32.3% 34.9%
Southern Europe 28.1% 37.2% 29.8%
Central and Eastern Europe 25.7% 20.5% 25.1%
Sub-Saharan Africa 26.4% 25.3% 26.3%
East Africa 32.2% 30.5% 32.0%
Southern Africa 31.3% 31.9% 31.3%
Central Africa 21.9% 24.5% 22.5%
West Africa 17.8% 12.2% 17.2%
Asia 21.2% 19.2% 21.0%
Central Asia 27.5% 23.1% 26.1%
South East Asia 22.9% 13.6% 21.7%
East Asia 21.7% 25.8% 21.9%
South Asia 16.5% 18.3% 16.8%
Pacific 20.1% 49.4% 23.1%
Australia and New Zealand 43.7% 56.6% 46.5%
Pacific Islands 7.1% 7.7% 7.1%
Middle East and North Africa 18.3% 11.2% 17.0%
Middle East 18.4% 12.9% 17.3%
North Africa 18.2% 7.7% 16.4%