Politics & Elections · Women in parliament · Botswana
Botswana’s women in parliament rose to 9% of seats in 2025.
9% of seats
2025
Up 0.26 pp from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
9% of seats
What it is. This measure counts the share of seats in the national parliament held by women, using the lower or single house only. The Inter-Parliamentary Union compiles the figures and the World Bank republishes them. It is a head count of seats at one point in the year, so it shows how many women sit in the chamber. Committee chairs, cabinet posts and the influence of individual members are outside it.
Higher is better. Higher is better because a larger share of seats means women have more votes and more voices in deciding laws and budgets. The latest figure is 9% of seats in January 2025, up from 8.7% of seats a year earlier, a rise of 0.26 percentage points. Since 2016 the lowest figure was 8.7% of seats in January 2024. The highest was 11.1% of seats in January 2022. The current level therefore sits close to the bottom of its range for the period, with only a small recovery from the low point.
Why it matters. With women holding 9% of seats, most of the votes on Botswana's laws and budgets are cast by men. Issues such as childcare, health services and the treatment of women at work are debated in a chamber where women are a small minority. Anyone who wants to follow change can check the next January reading against the 8.7% low and the 11.1% high.
| Period | Women in parliament · Botswana |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 9.5% of seats |
| 2017 | 9.5% of seats |
| 2018 | 9.5% of seats |
| 2019 | 10.8% of seats |
| 2020 | 10.8% of seats |
| 2021 | 10.8% of seats |
| 2022 | 11.1% of seats |
| 2023 | 11.1% of seats |
| 2024 | 8.7% of seats |
| 2025 | 9% of seats |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Women in parliament, Botswana, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/elections/women-in-parliament/botswana
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Methodology
Share of seats held by women in the national parliament (lower or single house), from the Inter-Parliamentary Union via the World Bank. Unit: % of seats.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series SG.GEN.PARL.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.