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Gender Equality - Goal

Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments

Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments

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Data follows the UN specification for this indicator; however it has not been identified in collaboration with topic experts. As with all indicators, this will be reviewed.

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Percentage of Members of Parliament who are Women

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Headline data

Year Value
2001.0 17.9
2005.0 19.8
2010.0 22.0
2015.0 29.4
2017.0 31.89522342

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from UK statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from UK statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other UK-specific metadata information.

Indicator available Percentage of Members of Parliament who are Women
Indicator description Percentage of Members of Parliament who are Women
Geographical coverage United Kingdom
Unit of measurement Percentage (%)
Definitions Seats refer to the number of parliamentary mandates, also known as the number of members of parliament. Seats are usually won by members in general parliamentary elections. Seats may also be filled by nomination, appointment, indirect election, rotation of members and by-election.
Calculations The proportion of seats held by women in national parliament is derived by dividing the total number of seats occupied by women by the total number of seats in parliament. There is no weighting or normalising of statistics.
Other information
Data last updated 2018-04-04: see changes on GitHub opens in a new window
Metadata last updated 2018-05-31: see changes on GitHub opens in a new window

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator name Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
Indicator number 5.5.1
Target name Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life
Target number 5.5
Global indicator description Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
UN designated tier 1/2
UN custodian agency House of Commons Library
Link to UN metadata United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Metadata (PDF 4.0 MB) opens in a new window
Organisation House of Commons Library
Periodicity Discontinuous
Earliest available data 1918
Geographical coverage United Kingdom
Link to data source Women in Parliament and Government opens in a new window
Release date 12-07-2017
Next release To be announced
Statistical classification Official Statistic
Contact details hcinfo@parliament.uk
Other information