From left, former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir of Iceland, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan, Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark. (Sena Vidanagama/AFP; Ludovic Marin/AFP; Tomohiro Ohsumi; Joël Saget/AFP; and Thierry Monasse, all via Getty Images)

Women are currently the head of government in 13 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations. These include Barbados, where Mia Mottley was just reelected as prime minster, and Japan, where Sanae Takaichi secured her position as prime minister in the country’s last parliamentary elections.

Takaichi is Japan’s first female prime minister. This makes her one of 10 women who are currently their country’s first female head of government, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.

Other current women leaders have had other women serve before them. For example, Kristrún Frostadóttir became Iceland’s third woman prime minister in 2024.

About this research

This Pew Research Center analysis looks at how many United Nations member countries have had women heads of government since the first woman leader came to power in 1960.

Why did we do this?

Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand the world’s leaders and how they are changing. Learn more about Pew Research Center. 

How did we do this?

The data in this analysis comes primarily from the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women’s Power Index, which was last updated Jan. 29, 2026. We updated these figures through March 2, 2026, using independent sources. We only include women who are heads of government, as defined by each country’s political system or constitution.

Depending on the country, the “head of government” could be the president or the prime minister, but not both. In limited instances, the head of government may not be the one who exercises the most power in their current government, so they are excluded from the analysis. We exclude heads of state, monarchs, copresidents, joint heads of state and interim leaders. In some cases, the head of government may not have the most power. In countries with collective heads of government, this analysis counts the presiding member.

Related: Would electing more officials from different backgrounds improve policy?

Of the 193 UN member countries, 63 have ever had a woman leader. The first was Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, where Sirimavo Bandaranaike began her first term as prime minister in 1960. Within the next decade, India and Israel also saw their first women leaders.

Worldwide, the number of countries that have had women leaders has risen steadily since 1990. The biggest single-year increase occurred in 2010, when women led for the first time in five countries: Australia, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Slovakia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

In 2025, women became the head of government for the first time in Japan, Namibia and Suriname.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados is the longest-serving woman currently in office, with a tenure of almost eight years.

63 UN member countries have ever had a woman leader

Year each country’s first woman head of government took office

Note: Data is through March 2, 2026, and is limited to heads of government for the 193 UN member states.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Council of Foreign Relations and independent sources.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

The longest-serving woman head of government since 1960 is former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina spent more than 20 total years in power but resigned and fled Bangladesh in 2024, when mass protests against a quota system for government jobs turned into a more violent movement against her government. (She was also the oldest woman leader at the time, according to a separate Pew Research Center analysis.)

A few notable women leaders are not included in this analysis. All leaders of non-UN member states are excluded. In addition, President-elect Laura Fernández of Costa Rica is excluded because she will not be sworn in until May 8. Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez and Nepalese Prime Minister Sushila Karki are also excluded since they are leading on an interim basis.

Some former women leaders such as Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (also called Burma) are also excluded due to a lack of clear government control. For more details, read “About this research.”

Note: This is an update of a post originally published July 30, 2015. The “About this research” box was updated again on March 13, 2026, to clarify our methodology for inclusion or exclusion of certain leaders. The post was previously updated Oct. 3, 2024; Research Analyst Laura Clancy and Editorial Specialist Anna Jackson contributed to that version.

Sofia Hernandez Ramones is a research analyst focusing on global attitudes at Pew Research Center.