Politics & Elections · Women in parliament · South Africa
South Africa’s women in parliament rose to 44.9% of seats in 2025.
44.9% of seats
2025
Up 0.16 pp from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
44.9% of seats
What it is. This measure counts the share of seats in the national parliament's lower or single house that are held by women. The Inter-Parliamentary Union collects the figures and the World Bank republishes them. It captures who sits in the chamber at a given point in the year. Cabinet posts, committee chairs, the upper house and local councils fall outside it, as does any sign of how much influence each member has.
Higher is better. A higher share means women hold more of the seats where laws and budgets are voted on, and the chamber looks more like the electorate it serves. The latest figure is 44.9% of seats in January 2025, up from 44.7% a year earlier, a rise of 0.16 percentage points. Since 2016 the share has ranged from a low of 41.8% of seats in January 2017 to a high of 46.8% in January 2020. The current level sits closer to the top of that range than to the bottom, though it is still below the 2020 peak.
Why it matters. In South Africa, women hold a large share of the seats that vote on legislation, oversee ministers and approve the state budget. Households and firms therefore have many women among the members who decide on issues such as social grants, childcare and workplace rules. The next January reading will show whether the share moves back towards the 2020 high of 46.8% of seats.
| Period | Women in parliament · South Africa |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 42% of seats |
| 2017 | 41.8% of seats |
| 2018 | 42.7% of seats |
| 2019 | 46.3% of seats |
| 2020 | 46.8% of seats |
| 2021 | 46.6% of seats |
| 2022 | 46.5% of seats |
| 2023 | 45.9% of seats |
| 2024 | 44.7% of seats |
| 2025 | 44.9% 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, South Africa, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/elections/women-in-parliament/south-africa
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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.