GGGR 2025

Global Gender Gap Report 202558Political leadership 2.4 Globally, women remain significantly underrepresented in key positions of political power. Data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) shows that in 2025, women serve as parliamentary speakers in 61 of the 187 parliamentary chambers tracked – fewer than one-third globally. As an indicator for women’s representation in parliamentary leadership, this number shows that while it has been nearly a century since a woman first held the role of parliamentary speaker in 1927, appointments have only become more frequent in recent decades, as Figure 2.9 shows. Of the 148 economies covered in this year’s Global Gender Gap Index, 99 have had a woman serve as parliamentary speaker – 60 of whom were appointed in the last 25 years. Number of women appointed to parliamentary speaker for the first time, by legislature type, over timeFIGURE 2.9 Number of women appointed to speaker 1920-1945 1945-19605 010152025303540 1961 -1985 1986-20002001-2025 Bicameral Note Includes data for all parliamentary chambers in economies included in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Index.Source LinkedIn Economic Graph Research Institute.Unicameral