Who is leading the race towards parliamentary gender parity globally?
Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global organisation of international parliaments, which compiles data on the representation of women in the lower or single house of parliament, has released its October 2025 figures.
This African nation is the global leader in gender representation, with women holding 63.8 per cent of seats in parliament. Amazing! Salute, Rwanda!
Article 44 of the Cuban Constitution pledges equal opportunities for women, and this commitment is clearly reflected in the Cuban National Assembly, where women hold 55.7 per cent of all seats.
Women were granted voting & election rights in Nicaragua in 1955. The country never looked back after that. It welcomed its first woman parliamentarian in 1972 and now has near-equal representation, with the ladies holding 55 per cent of legislative seats.
The August 2025 elections saw Bolivian women gain 50.8 per cent representation at the Plurinational Legislative Assembly in La Paz.
Led now by woman president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Mexico has 50.2 per cent female representation in Congreso de la Unión, one of the few major democracies with balanced participation between men and women in politics & way ahead of its northern neighbour the US (only 28.9 per cent).
The first among First World nations to achieve equal parliamentary participation by both sexes was this tiny country in the Pyrenees with women occupying 50 per cent seats in the 2023 elections.
In the Middle East, UAE is the first to achieve complete gender parity. This milestone was reached after leadership decrees mandated equal representation in the quasi-parliamentary Federal National Council. It now has 50.0 per cent women.
The Central American country boasts 49.1 per cent women participation in its unicameral parliament. And extra .9 per cent representation will do Costa Rica proud.
Aussie women are now more proactively seeking seats of power, with 46 per cent women in parliament. Women first entered Australian state politics in 1921, reached the federal arena in 1943 and finally witnessed their first woman PM in 2010.
India is 150th on this list. Her lower house includes 13.8 per cent women, a figure set to rise following the Women’s Reservation Bill that aims to reserve one-third of seats for women in future elections.