Hungary has among lowest share of female politicians in the EU

Budapest, Hungary – Hungary is one of the EU countries with the lowest share of top female politicians, new Eurostat data released for International Women’s Day show.

EU-wide, women held roughly one-third (32%) of seats in national parliaments, a strong increase compared to 2003 (21%). At the governmental level, Eurostat figures point to roughly the same figures, with 31% of senior and junior ministerial positions held by women in 2019 (compared to 23% in 2003).

In both cases, Hungary is one of the least egalitarian countries in the EU, a position it has held for many years. With 12% of seats held by women in Parliament, Hungary ranks last. All other Visegrad countries – Poland (28%), Czech Republic (21%) and Slovakia (21%) – also remain below the EU average.

Topping the ranking, Sweden (48%) and Finland (47%) had nearly half of MPs’ seats occupied by women last year.

The situation is equally dire when looking at the number of women in government: 14% of ministerial positions are held by women in Hungary, the fourth-lowest in the EU ahead of Estonia, Greece and Malta. Poland (15%) also ranks among the five least egalitarian countries in the bloc, while Slovakia (23%) and the Czech Republic (27%) perform slightly better but remain below the EU average.

Finland (58%) and Sweden (52%) once again take the top spots, while Spain and Austria also managed to make the 50% threshold.