Share of women ambassadors

Women are under-represented in senior diplomatic posts, although some countries have reached parity (see Figure 2). Globally, 21 % of ambassadors and permanent representatives are women, but the percentage ranges from 53 % in Canada to 0.75 % in Russia and 0 % in Belarus, Fiji, North Korea and Togo. The EU as a whole has a higher than average share of women ambassadors (30 %). Sweden (51 %), Finland (50 %), Latvia (43 %) and the Netherlands (42 %) are among the countries with the highest share of women ambassadors, but in Czechia (20 %), Portugal (18.5 %), Italy (15 %), Slovakia (14 %) and Belgium (12 %) the share is below the world average. Germany is one of the countries making significant progress (up 12.4 percentage points since 2018). Collectively, countries that have adopted feminist foreign policies or national action plans on women and security have a higher share of women ambassadors (23 % and 31 % respectively).