Female members of parliament (i29)
- 30/11/2023
- objective
- assessment assessment
In 2022, 42.9% of elected representatives in the federal, regional and community parliaments in Belgium were women. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must increase to 50%. This objective will not be reached by continuing the trend since 2003 (data available in November 2023). The share of female members of parliament is therefore developing unfavourably.
Female members of parliament - Belgium - trend assessment
percentage
| 2000 | 2003 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2025 | 2030 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| observations | -- | 29.6 | 32.8 | 39.5 | 40.7 | 42.2 | 42.6 | 42.9 | -- | -- |
| trend and extrapolation (November 2023) | -- | 30.7 | 32.5 | 37.4 | 40.6 | 42.1 | 42.5 | 42.8 | 43.6 | 44.5 |
| objective 2030 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 |
European Institute for Gender Equality (2023), Gender Statistics Database, Women and men in decision making, http://eige.europa.eu/ (consulted on 14/03/2023); calculations FPB.
Female members of parliament - Belgium and international comparison
percentage in national and regional parliaments
| 2003 | 2005 | 2010 | 2017 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2022//2003 | 2022//2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 29.6 | 32.8 | 39.5 | 40.0 | 42.2 | 42.6 | 42.9 | 2.0 | 1.4 |
| EU27 | 23.9 | 27.5 | 28.6 | 32.2 | 33.6 | 34.0 | 34.4 | 2.0 | 1.3 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
European Institute for Gender Equality (2023), Gender Statistics Database, Women and men in decision making, http://eige.europa.eu/ (consulted on14/03/2023).
Female members of parliament by region - Belgium
percentage
| 2003 | 2005 | 2010 | 2017 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2022//2003 | 2022//2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels-Capital Region | 32.9 | 43.0 | 47.2 | 41.6 | 47.8 | 48.3 | 46.1 | 1.8 | 2.1 |
| Flemish Region | -- | 30.9 | 39.5 | 41.9 | 46.0 | 46.0 | 48.4 | -- | 2.9 |
| Walloon Region | 12.5 | 21.6 | 37.3 | 41.3 | 37.3 | 37.3 | 36.5 | 5.8 | -2.4 |
| Federal Parliament | 35.6 | 34.7 | 38.9 | 38.4 | 41.5 | 42.2 | 42.2 | 0.9 | 1.9 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
European Institute for Gender Equality (2023), Gender Statistics Database, Women and men in decision making, http://eige.europa.eu/ (consulted on 14/03/2023); calculations FPB.
Definition: share of women elected to federal, regional and community parliaments. The data come from the European Institute for Gender Equality.
Goal: women elected to parliament should hold half the seats.
The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 5.5: "Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life".
The Federal Long-Term Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development includes objective 1: "Women and men will enjoy their rights equally. They will be able to contribute to all aspects of the development of society and to the improvement of living conditions without distinction, exclusion or restriction on the grounds of sex” (Belgian Official Gazette, 08/10/2013).
International comparison: at European level (EU27), the trend is towards an increase in the proportion of women in national parliaments, from 23.9% in 2003 to 34.4% in 2022. When Member States are divided into three groups, Belgium is part of the group with the best performance in 2022 and performs better than the European average. In that year, Sweden ranked first with 48.0% and Cyprus and Hungary last with 14.3%.
UN indicator: the selected indicator corresponds to indicator 5.5.1 - Proportion of seats held by women in a) national parliaments and b) local governments.
Sources
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General
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SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals: United Nations (2015), Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, document A/RES/70/1.
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Indicators: United Nations (2017), Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, document A/RES/71/313.
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UN Sustainable Development: https://sdgs.un.org/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).
- UN Sustainable Development Goal indicators website: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).
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Specific
Federal Planning Bureau
At www.indicators.be the Federal Planning Bureau presents sustainable development indicators.
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