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2 clusters · 16 sources · 30 days · First seen · Last updated

Female leadership representation in Germany

Overview

In North Rhine-Westphalia, women held 28.9% of approximately 376,000 executive roles in 2025. While this represents a slight increase from 26.0% in 2015, a disparity exists in working models; women comprise 64.9% of part-time executives but only 24.7% of full-time executives. Representation also varies by age, peaking at 34% to 35% for those under 44 and dropping to 23.5% for those aged 55 and older.

On a national level, data from the German Federal Statistical Office and Eurostat shows that women occupied 30.3% of management positions in Germany in 2025. This figure remains below the European Union average of 35.9%. Although Germany experienced a 1.0 percentage point increase in female leadership over the last decade—rising from 29.3% in 2015 to 30.3% in 2025—this growth rate lags behind the EU-wide increase of 4.0 percentage points. This disparity is highlighted by the fact that women make up 47.1% of the German workforce, a figure slightly above the EU average of 46.5%.

Within the EU, Sweden leads with a 44.4% share of female leaders, followed by Latvia (43.8%) and Estonia (43.1%). Austria reported 37.2% of women in top positions, while Poland showed high representation at 42.5%. Cyprus reported the lowest share at 25.9%, with Italy (28.6%) and the Netherlands (30%) also trailing the EU average. In contrast to management roles, women held 42.6% of government seats as of the third quarter of 2026.

Entities

European Union · Germany · Eurostat · Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt · Statistisches Bundesamt

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

Timeline

  1. [BUSINESS] 14 sources
    Germany's female leadership share falls below EU average

    Women hold only 30.3% of leadership positions in Germany, falling below the EU average of 35.9% despite making up 47.1% of the workforce. Sweden leads the EU with 44.4% female leadership.

  2. [BUSINESS] 2 sources
    Women hold 28.9% of executive roles in North Rhine-Westphalia

    In 2025, women held 28.9% of executive positions in North Rhine-Westphalia, significantly trailing their 47.1% share of the total workforce.

Sources

ad-hoc-news.de · allgaeuer-zeitung.de · blomberg-voices.de · eu-schwerbehinderung.eu · fehmarn24.de · gmbhchef.de · ikmag.pl · index.hr · kreiszeitung.de · kurierverlag.de · next.gazeta.pl · rhoenkanal.de · suedtirolnews.it · trn.mk · volksfreund.de · wz.de

This summary has been updated 3 times: see revision history