Women hold at least half the seats in seven parliaments
Share of seats held by women in the lower or single house of parliament, 1 January 2026.
- 1. The world has already passed peak child
- 2. Japan's median age is more than three times Niger's
- 3. South Korea now has a quarter of its 1971 births
- 4. China's population is projected to more than halve by 2100
- 5. Japan now has over 100,000 centenarians, up from 153
- 6. Japan has 9 million empty homes: one in seven
- 7. One in ten in Japan will be foreign by 2070
- 8. Japan's foreign residents have doubled since 2012, passing 4 million
- 9. Jakarta, not Tokyo, is the world's largest city
- 10. Two in three newly licensed UK doctors qualified abroad
- 11. Iran dropped from top refugee host to fifth in 2025
- 12. More Christians live in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else
- 13. Two in three people live where fertility is below replacement
- 14. Japan's births fell below half their 1899 level
- 15. DR Congo now has more children than Brazil
- 16. Brazil now has more people over 65 than Germany
- 17. Egypt has more asylum seekers than Germany, Spain and Italy
- 18. 34 countries and territories are past their population peak
- 19. Chile's fertility rate fell below Italy's and Japan's
- 20. Nigeria now has almost 25 million more people than Brazil
- 21. Thailand's births have fallen below its deaths
- 22. Women hold at least half the seats in seven parliaments
- 23. Child marriage in South Asia has nearly halved since 2005
- 24. Six in ten child deaths now happen in sub-Saharan Africa
Seats held by women in Rwanda's lower house, the world's highest, up from 17.1% in 2000.
Parliaments at half or more that are outside Europe: Rwanda, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Mexico, the UAE. Andorra is the seventh.
World average for lower or single houses in 2026, up from 13.3% in 2000. India is at 13.8%, the US at 28.9%.
the numbers & method
| Country | Value (%) |
|---|---|
| RWA | 63.8 |
| CUB | 57.2 |
| NIC | 55.0 |
| BOL | 50.8 |
| MEX | 50.4 |
| AND | 50.0 |
| ARE | 50.0 |
| CRI | 49.1 |
| AUS | 46.0 |
| ISL | 46.0 |
| CPV | 45.8 |
| MCO | 45.8 |
| FIN | 45.5 |
| NZL | 45.5 |
| ZAF | 44.8 |
| SWE | 44.7 |
| DNK | 44.1 |
| ESP | 44.0 |
| NLD | 43.3 |
| ECU | 43.1 |
| NOR | 42.6 |
| NAM | 42.3 |
| ETH | 41.9 |
| PER | 41.5 |
| AGO | 41.4 |
| SEN | 41.2 |
| ARG | 40.9 |
| BEL | 40.7 |
| DMA | 40.6 |
| GBR | 40.6 |
| CHE | 39.7 |
| BDI | 39.6 |
| MDA | 39.6 |
| ARM | 39.3 |
| MKD | 39.2 |
| UZB | 39.2 |
| MOZ | 38.0 |
| SVN | 37.8 |
| SRB | 37.6 |
| TZA | 37.6 |
| DOM | 37.4 |
| LVA | 37.0 |
| PRT | 36.5 |
| FRA | 36.2 |
| GUY | 36.1 |
| AUT | 35.5 |
| TLS | 35.4 |
| LUX | 35.0 |
| SMR | 35.0 |
| CHL | 34.8 |
| ALB | 34.3 |
| UGA | 34.0 |
| BLR | 33.9 |
| CMR | 33.9 |
| CZE | 33.5 |
| TCD | 33.5 |
| KGZ | 33.3 |
| ITA | 32.8 |
| HRV | 32.7 |
| DEU | 32.5 |
| SSD | 32.4 |
| SGP | 32.3 |
| VEN | 32.1 |
| LIE | 32.0 |
| SLV | 31.7 |
| VNM | 31.6 |
| POL | 31.5 |
| SUR | 31.4 |
| GRD | 31.3 |
| KNA | 31.3 |
| GNQ | 31.0 |
| VCT | 30.4 |
| CAN | 30.3 |
| URY | 30.3 |
| JAM | 30.2 |
| MLI | 30.1 |
| ZWE | 30.1 |
| EST | 29.7 |
| HND | 29.7 |
| GIN | 29.6 |
| COL | 29.4 |
| MLT | 29.1 |
| TJK | 29.0 |
| USA | 28.9 |
| LTU | 28.4 |
| PHL | 28.3 |
| SLE | 28.2 |
| MNE | 27.2 |
| EGY | 26.9 |
| BRB | 26.7 |
| BEN | 26.6 |
| CHN | 26.5 |
| SYC | 26.5 |
| DJI | 26.2 |
| ISR | 25.8 |
| IRQ | 25.5 |
| MNG | 25.4 |
| TKM | 25.4 |
| BGR | 25.0 |
| IRL | 25.0 |
| LSO | 25.0 |
| PLW | 25.0 |
| MAR | 24.3 |
| GRC | 23.9 |
| PRY | 23.8 |
| TTO | 23.8 |
| MRT | 23.3 |
| KEN | 23.0 |
| ROU | 22.7 |
| IDN | 22.2 |
| LAO | 22.0 |
| SVK | 22.0 |
| PAK | 21.7 |
| PAN | 21.7 |
| GAB | 21.6 |
| TGO | 21.6 |
| FSM | 21.4 |
| MWI | 21.4 |
| UKR | 21.1 |
| AZE | 20.8 |
| KOR | 20.8 |
| SWZ | 20.3 |
| BHR | 20.0 |
| GTM | 20.0 |
| SAU | 19.9 |
| TUR | 19.9 |
| JOR | 19.6 |
| NER | 19.6 |
| THA | 19.6 |
| BIH | 19.1 |
| SOM | 19.0 |
| BFA | 18.3 |
| COM | 18.2 |
| BHS | 18.0 |
| MUS | 17.9 |
| RUS | 17.9 |
| PRK | 17.6 |
| KAZ | 17.4 |
| BRA | 17.2 |
| GEO | 16.8 |
| LBY | 16.5 |
| MDG | 16.0 |
| TUN | 15.8 |
| HUN | 15.6 |
| JPN | 15.5 |
| ZMB | 15.0 |
| COG | 14.6 |
| STP | 14.6 |
| GHA | 14.5 |
| CYP | 14.3 |
| IND | 13.8 |
| KHM | 13.6 |
| MYS | 13.6 |
| CIV | 13.4 |
| COD | 12.8 |
| BLZ | 12.5 |
| MHL | 12.1 |
| BRN | 11.4 |
| CAF | 11.4 |
| KIR | 11.1 |
| LBR | 11.0 |
| LCA | 10.5 |
| NRU | 10.5 |
| LKA | 9.8 |
| WSM | 9.8 |
| FJI | 9.1 |
| BWA | 9.0 |
| GMB | 8.6 |
| DZA | 7.9 |
| LBN | 6.3 |
| QAT | 6.1 |
| SLB | 6.0 |
| ATG | 5.9 |
| IRN | 4.9 |
| SYR | 4.9 |
| BTN | 4.3 |
| NGA | 4.2 |
| TON | 3.9 |
| MDV | 3.2 |
| PNG | 2.7 |
| VUT | 1.9 |
| OMN | 0.0 |
| TUV | 0.0 |
| YEM | 0.0 |
Claim types Fact
Series SG_GEN_PARL 'Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (% of total number of seats)'; custodian Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Parline database. Lower chamber or unicameral parliament; data valid as of 1 January 2026, based on seats filled at the time (IPU footnote). Read from the UN SDG Global Database API (release 2026.Q3.G.01) on 4 Nov 2026; 184 countries with a 2026 value (9 more listed without one). At least 50%: Rwanda 63.75, Cuba 57.2, Nicaragua 55.0, Bolivia 50.8, Mexico 50.4, United Arab Emirates 50.0, Andorra 50.0. World 27.39% (2026) vs 13.34% (2000, IPU data as of 1 February). Rwanda 2000: 17.14%. Values shown to one decimal; the count of seven and the grouping are progrss calculations. The measure counts seats, not how members are chosen: some parliaments use quotas, reserved or appointed seats. The IPU's March 2026 release names the same seven; its world figure of 27.5% counts both houses. On the tile map every country is one square, so small countries (Andorra, Rwanda, UAE) show at the same size. Licence: IPU terms for commercial reuse not confirmed, so this plate is not sold.
Published 4 Nov 2026
what connects to this
one plate, every morning
The new world, explained in one chart, in your inbox at 7:00, your time. Free.
or follow via rss, the "rss" in progrss