UN data: Progress on women’s political representation is slowing

Women’s representation in elected office is still rising worldwide, but the pace has slowed sharply, according to the United Nations’ 2026 Sustainable Development Goal 5 update released ahead of the International Day of Democracy on September 15.

Women held 27.4% of seats in lower or single houses of national parliaments as of January 1, 2026. That was just 0.2 percentage points higher than in 2025, although the share was 5.1 points higher than in 2015.

The figures show continued movement toward parity, but at a pace that leaves many countries far behind. Only seven countries had at least 50% women in their national parliaments. Three countries still had no women representatives, and women held less than 10% of parliamentary seats in 18 countries.

Local representation is higher, but progress is slowing there too

Women held 35.6% of local-government positions in 2025, according to the UN update. Annual growth at that level slowed to 0.1 percentage points.

A report issued by the UN Commission on the Status of Women on December 18, 2025, and reviewed during the Commission’s 2026 session, said that at current rates it could take more than four decades to reach parity in national parliaments and three decades at the local level.

Those projections are a warning about the difference between progress and sufficient progress. A separate Inter-Parliamentary Union dataset uses a different calculation and reports a nearby global figure for January 2026; the UN Statistics Division’s 27.4% figure is the measure used here.

Seat counts do not equal equal influence

Representation is one measure of democratic inclusion, but it is not the same as political power. The Commission report said women remain less represented at the highest levels of decision-making, with executive leadership farther from parity than legislative and local bodies. It also found that women’s leadership is concentrated more often in social-sector portfolios, while representation in finance, foreign affairs and defense continues to lag.

That means a legislature can become more representative without giving all members equal influence over the decisions that shape budgets, security, diplomacy or public services.

Quotas are linked to larger gains

The UN data shows a substantial difference between countries with legislated quotas and those without them. Countries using quotas elected 15 percentage points more women to national parliaments and 17 percentage points more women to local governments.

Quotas remain far from universal. Only 93 countries had legislated parliamentary quotas, while 82 had legislated quotas for local governments.

The comparison supports quotas as a measurable tool for increasing women’s presence, but it does not mean that quotas alone guarantee equal political power. Their effect depends on how rules are designed, whether parties comply, whether candidates can compete meaningfully and whether enforcement is credible. Independent reporting by Deutsche Welle on African parliaments likewise found that quota-driven gains can increase women’s presence while leaving deeper questions about competition, accountability and influence unresolved.

Violence can deter participation after election day

The barriers continue after women enter public life. The Commission on the Status of Women reported that violence against women in public life can force self-censorship, deter potential candidates from seeking office and contribute to resignations.

The report also documented newer forms of technology-facilitated abuse, including non-consensual image sharing, doxing and deepfake pornography. As of 2025, it said, 70% of countries had introduced or strengthened laws addressing gender-based violence carried out through or amplified by technology. But only 49% had strengthened government enforcement capacity, and fewer than one-third had worked with technology providers on human-rights-based solutions.

UN Women’s separate 2025 research, based on a survey of women in the public sphere across 119 countries, found that online violence can spill into offline attacks, abuse and harassment. These findings do not mean every woman officeholder experiences the same threats. They do show how abuse can affect who is willing or able to seek office, remain in public life and speak freely once elected.

What governments need to do next

The UN’s figures give governments a practical agenda as the September 15 observance approaches: enforce quota rules, protect candidates and officeholders from political and digital violence, investigate abuses and fund institutions that make participation meaningful.

The United Nations’ 2026 International Day of Democracy message emphasizes participation, dialogue and bringing more voices into decisions that affect people’s lives. The representation data makes the unresolved question clear: can governments prevent progress from slowing into stagnation and turn larger numbers of women in elected bodies into equal influence over public decisions?

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