Women Speakers of national parliaments

Before 1945:

Austria was the only state where a woman was elected president of a chamber (the Bundesrat ) before World War II

From 1945 to 1997:

Only 42 of the 186 states with legislative institutions at some point in their history have had a woman chair of parliament or a chamber of parliament: this has occurred 78 times in all.
These are 18 European countries, 19 countries in the Americas, three African countries, one country in Asia and one country in the Pacific.
Twenty-four of the states in question had a bicameral parliament, and the presidency was given to a woman somewhat more frequently in the Senate than in the People's Chamber.

Current Status:

Only 62 women preside over one of the Houses of the 190 Parliaments, 78 of which are bicameral. Women therefore occupy only 22.8% of the total filled posts of Presiding Officers of Parliament or of one of its Houses. See a full list of women Speakers below, including the link to global and regional percentages for Speakers.

Lower and unicameral chambers

Upper chambers

Country data on women speakers

Women Speakers: Global and regional percentages

ISO Code	Country	Country without accent	Region	Chamber	Structure of parliament	Chamber type	Official title	Full name	Year of birth	Sex	Date of appointment	Date of appointment data
GD	Grenada	Grenada	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Dessima Williams		Female	31 Aug 2022	2022-08-31
ST	Sao Tome and Principe	Sao Tome and Principe	Sub-Saharan Africa	National Assembly	Unicameral		Speaker of the National Assembly	Celmira Sacramento		Female	08 Nov 2022	2022-11-08
UG	Uganda	Uganda	Sub-Saharan Africa	Parliament	Unicameral		Speaker of Parliament	Anita Annet Among		Female	25 Mar 2022	2022-03-25
RU	Russian Federation	Russian Federation	Europe	Council of the Federation	Bicameral	Upper chamber	Speaker of the Council of the Federation	Valentina Matvienko	1949	Female	21 Sep 2011	2011-09-21
US	United States of America	United States of America	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President pro tempore of the Senate	Patty Murray	1950	Female	03 Jan 2023	2023-01-03
MG	Madagascar	Madagascar	Sub-Saharan Africa	National Assembly	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the National Assembly	Christine Razanamahasoa	1951	Female	16 Jul 2019	2019-07-16
KH	Cambodia	Cambodia	Asia	National Assembly	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the National Assembly	Khuon Sudary	1952	Female	22 Aug 2023	2023-08-22
AR	Argentina	Argentina	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner	1953	Female	10 Dec 2019	2019-12-10
AU	Australia	Australia	Pacific	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Sue Lines	1953	Female	26 Jul 2022	2022-07-26
TL	Timor-Leste	Timor-Leste	Asia	National Parliament	Unicameral		Speaker of the National Parliament	Maria Fernanda Lay	1954	Female	22 Jun 2023	2023-06-22
AZ	Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	Europe	National Assembly	Unicameral		Chairwoman of the National Assembly	Sahiba Gafarova	1955	Female	10 Mar 2020	2020-03-10
AO	Angola	Angola	Sub-Saharan Africa	National Assembly	Unicameral		Speaker of the National Assembly	Carolina Cerqueira	1956	Female	16 Sep 2022	2022-09-16
CA	Canada	Canada	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	Speaker of the Senate	Raymonde Gagné	1956	Female	12 May 2023	2023-05-12
JM	Jamaica	Jamaica	Americas	House of Representatives	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the House of Representatives	Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert	1956	Female	15 Sep 2020	2020-09-15
ZA	South Africa	South Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	National Assembly	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the National Assembly	Nosiviwe Noluthando Mapisa-Nqakula	1956	Female	19 Aug 2021	2021-08-19
UZ	Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	Asia	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	Chairwoman of the Senate	Tanzila Narbaeva	1956	Female	21 Jun 2019	2019-06-21
ZM	Zambia	Zambia	Sub-Saharan Africa	National Assembly	Unicameral		Speaker of the National Assembly	Nelly Butete Kashumba Mutti	1956	Female	03 Sep 2021	2021-09-03
GQ	Equatorial Guinea	Equatorial Guinea	Sub-Saharan Africa	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	María Teresa Efua Asangono	1957	Female	12 Jul 2013	2013-07-12
GA	Gabon	Gabon	Sub-Saharan Africa	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Lucie Milebou-Aubusson	1957	Female	27 Feb 2015	2015-02-27
PL	Poland	Poland	Europe	Sejm	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Marshal of the Sejm	Elżbieta Witek	1957	Female	09 Aug 2019	2019-08-09
MZ	Mozambique	Mozambique	Sub-Saharan Africa	Assembly of the Republic	Unicameral		Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic	Esperança Laurinda Francisco Nhiuane Bias	1958	Female	13 Jan 2020	2020-01-13
CH	Switzerland	Switzerland	Europe	Council of States	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Council of States	Brigitte Häberli-Koller	1958	Female	28 Nov 2022	2022-11-28
TT	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	House of Representatives	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the House of Representatives	Bridgid Annisette-George	1958	Female	23 Sep 2015	2015-09-23
ZW	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	Sub-Saharan Africa	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Mabel M. Chinomona	1958	Female	11 Sep 2018	2018-09-11
MX	Mexico	Mexico	Americas	Chamber of Deputies	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies	Marcela Guerra Castillo	1959	Female	01 Sep 2023	2023-09-01
MC	Monaco	Monaco	Europe	National Council	Unicameral		Speaker of the National Council	Brigitte Boccone-Pagès	1959	Female	06 Oct 2022	2022-10-06
BY	Belarus	Belarus	Europe	Council of the Republic	Bicameral	Upper chamber	Chairperson of the Council of the Republic	Natalya Kochanova	1960	Female	06 Dec 2019	2019-12-06
RW	Rwanda	Rwanda	Sub-Saharan Africa	Chamber of Deputies	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies	Donatille Mukabalisa	1960	Female	05 Oct 2013	2013-10-05
UY	Uruguay	Uruguay	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the General Assembly and of the Senat	Beatriz Argimón	1961	Female	01 Mar 2020	2020-03-01
BZ	Belize	Belize	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Carolyn Trench Sandiford	1962	Female	11 Dec 2020	2020-12-11
LR	Liberia	Liberia	Sub-Saharan Africa	The Liberian Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Jewel Howard Taylor	1963	Female	22 Jan 2018	2018-01-22
US	United States of America	United States of America	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Kamala D. Harris	1964	Female	20 Jan 2021	2021-01-20
AL	Albania	Albania	Europe	Parliament	Unicameral		Speaker of Parliament	Lindita Nikolla	1965	Female	10 Sep 2021	2021-09-10
SZ	Eswatini	Eswatini	Sub-Saharan Africa	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Lindiwe Dlamini	1965	Female	23 Oct 2018	2018-10-23
BD	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	Asia	Parliament	Unicameral		Speaker of Parliament	Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury	1966	Female	30 Apr 2013	2013-04-30
BE	Belgium	Belgium	Europe	House of Representatives	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the House of Representatives	Eliane Tillieux	1966	Female	13 Oct 2020	2020-10-13
SS	South Sudan	South Sudan	Sub-Saharan Africa	Transitional National Legislative Assembly	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly	Jemma Nunu Kumba	1966	Female	02 Aug 2021	2021-08-02
AT	Austria	Austria	Europe	Federal Council	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Federal Council	Claudia Arpa	1967	Female	01 Jul 2023	2023-07-01
KI	Kiribati	Kiribati	Pacific	House of Assembly	Unicameral		Speaker of the House of Assembly	Tangariki Reete	1967	Female	22 May 2020	2020-05-22
BS	Bahamas	Bahamas	Americas	House of Assembly	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the House of Assembly	Patricia Deveaux	1968	Female	06 Oct 2021	2021-10-06
BS	Bahamas	Bahamas	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Lashell Adderley	1968	Female	06 Oct 2021	2021-10-06
DE	Germany	Germany	Europe	German Bundestag	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the German Bundestag	Bärbel Bas	1968	Female	26 Oct 2021	2021-10-26
LV	Latvia	Latvia	Europe	Parliament	Unicameral		Speaker of Parliament	Daiga Mieriņa	1969	Female	20 Sep 2023	2023-09-20
FR	France	France	Europe	National Assembly	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the National Assembly	Yaël Braun-Pivet	1970	Female	28 Jun 2022	2022-06-28
LS	Lesotho	Lesotho	Sub-Saharan Africa	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Mamonaheng Mokitimi	1970	Female	11 Jul 2017	2017-07-11
GT	Guatemala	Guatemala	Americas	Congress of the Republic	Unicameral		President of the Congress of the Republic	Shirley Joanna Rivera Zaldaña	1971	Female	14 Jan 2022	2022-01-14
NL	Netherlands	Netherlands	Europe	House of Representatives	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the House of Representatives	Vera Bergkamp	1971	Female	07 Apr 2021	2021-04-07
ES	Spain	Spain	Europe	Congress of Deputies	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the Congress of Deputies	Francina Armengol	1971	Female	17 Aug 2023	2023-08-17
TG	Togo	Togo	Sub-Saharan Africa	National Assembly	Unicameral		President of the National Assembly	Yawa Djigbodi Tsegan	1971	Female	23 Jan 2019	2019-01-23
AG	Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua and Barbuda	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Alincia Williams-Grant	1972	Female	25 Jun 2014	2014-06-25
BZ	Belize	Belize	Americas	House of Representatives	Bicameral	Lower chamber	Speaker of the House of Representatives	Valerie Woods	1973	Female	11 Dec 2020	2020-12-11
ID	Indonesia	Indonesia	Asia	House of Representatives	Unicameral		Speaker of the House of Representatives	Puan Maharani	1973	Female	02 Oct 2019	2019-10-02
MW	Malawi	Malawi	Sub-Saharan Africa	National Assembly	Unicameral		Speaker of the National Assembly	Catherine Gotani Hara	1973	Female	19 Jun 2019	2019-06-19
MX	Mexico	Mexico	Americas	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Ana Lilia Rivera Rivera	1973	Female	01 Sep 2023	2023-09-01
ME	Montenegro	Montenegro	Europe	Parliament	Unicameral		President of the Parliament	Danijela Djurović	1973	Female	28 Apr 2022	2022-04-28
VC	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Americas	House of Assembly	Unicameral		Speaker of the House of Assembly	Rochelle Forde	1974	Female	30 Nov 2020	2020-11-30
AR	Argentina	Argentina	Americas	Chamber of Deputies	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the Chamber of Deputies	Cecilia Moreau	1976	Female	02 Aug 2022	2022-08-02
TZ	United Republic of Tanzania	United Republic of Tanzania	Sub-Saharan Africa	National Assembly	Unicameral		Speaker of the National Assembly	Tulia Ackson	1976	Female	01 Feb 2022	2022-02-01
SM	San Marino	San Marino	Europe	Great and General Council	Unicameral		Captain Regent of the Great and General Council	Adele Tonnini	1977	Female	01 Apr 2023	2023-04-01
SI	Slovenia	Slovenia	Europe	National Assembly	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the National Assembly	Urška Klakočar Zupančič	1977	Female	13 May 2022	2022-05-13
BE	Belgium	Belgium	Europe	Senate	Bicameral	Upper chamber	President of the Senate	Stephanie D'Hose	1981	Female	13 Oct 2020	2020-10-13
LT	Lithuania	Lithuania	Europe	Parliament	Unicameral		Speaker of the Seimas	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen	1983	Female	13 Nov 2020	2020-11-13
CZ	Czech Republic	Czech Republic	Europe	Chamber of Deputies	Bicameral	Lower chamber	President of the Chamber of Deputies	Marketa Pekarova Adamova	1984	Female	10 Nov 2021	2021-11-10
CY	Cyprus	Cyprus	Europe	House of Representatives	Unicameral		President of the House of Representatives	Anita Demetriou	1985	Female	10 Jun 2021	2021-06-10
KN	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Americas	National Assembly	Unicameral		Speaker of the National Assembly	Lanein Blanchette	1986	Female	25 Oct 2022	2022-10-25
TM	Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan	Asia	Assembly	Unicameral		Chairwoman of the Assembly	Dunyagozel Akmuhammedovna Gulmanova	1989	Female	06 Apr 2023	2023-04-06