10 countries with female leaders 2024: "Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world." — Hillary Clinton Today, women across the globe are entering the political arena in record numbers and achieving significant electoral success. The United States of America is gearing up for its highly anticipated presidential election on November 5th, 2024, with Democratic Party's Kamala Harris on the brink of making history, as the first woman to hold the office of President of the United States of America. "Kamala Harris is raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th President of the United States, on the other side of that glass ceiling," Hillary Clinton, who made history as the first woman nominated for president in 2016, stated while expressing her support for Harris. Historically, 59 nations have had women in leadership roles, starting with Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka in 1960, and presently, about nine of the 13 current female leaders are the first women to hold their positions, including recent appointments like Peru’s Dina Boluarte and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni. Not so surprisingly, Europe reigns as the region with the highest concentration of female-led nations, with most of its countries having had three or more women leaders, according to the data by the Council on Foreign Relations. Switzerland leads in female leadership, having had five women serve as presidents of the Swiss Confederation; Finland follows closely with four female leaders; and Iceland has had three female leaders, among them Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, who made history as the world's first elected female president, serving from 1980 to 1996. Notably, India has also had three women-led heads of state and government, with Indira Gandhi (serving from 1966–1984) making history as the first Prime Minister of India, Dr. Pratibha Patil (2007–2012) as the first women president, and the present Droupadi Murmu (2022–present) as the first tribal President of India. While we see women today walking parallel with men across diverse fields, it's worth noting that, currently, they politically lead only 13 of the 193 United Nations member states, and fewer than a third of these countries have ever had a female leader, according to the Pew Research Centre. Research shows that when women constitute a substantial portion of legislative bodies—typically around 25 to 30 percent—they are more inclined to challenge traditional norms and influence policy agendas. However, albeit slowly, we are still paving towards it, with the global gender gap closed at 68.5 per cent in 2024 with the political empowerment gap being closed by 22.5 per cent, as per the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest Global Gender Gap Report 2024. Today on August 26, as we mark Women's Equality Day 2024; out of 25 countries in total, here are 10 countries where women are at the helm and hold prominent leadership positions as heads of state or government, as of August 2024. Serial No. Country Current Leader Position No. of heads of state and government (since 1946) 1 Iceland Halla Tómasdóttir President 3 2 Malta Myriam Spiteri Debono President 3 3 Moldova Maia Sandu President 3 4 Lithuania Ingrida Šimonytė Prime Minister 3 5 India Droupadi Murmu President 3 6 Denmark Mette Frederiksen Prime Minister 2 7 Thailand Paetongtarn Shinawatra Prime Minister 2 8 Italy Giorgia Meloni Prime Minister 1 9 Georgia Salome Zourabichvili President 1 10 Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde President 1 Source: Women Power Index, Council of Foreign Relations Please note: The data is as of August 20, 2024. Know more about India's President, Droupadi Murmu: India's 15th and current President, serving from July 25, 2022, Droupadi Murmu is India's first tribal president, and the second woman President, succeeding Pratibha Patil. As President, Murmu has focused on issues such as tribal welfare, women's empowerment, and social justice. She has also been a strong advocate for India's role in the world. Know more about Iceland's President, Halla Tómasdóttir: Halla Tomasdottir, a businesswoman and investor, won Iceland's presidential election in June 2024, is currently serving as Iceland's president since June 2024. She is the second Icelandic female president, following Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. Know more about Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni: One of the most popular political leaders, the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, is an Italian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy since October 2022, the first woman to hold this role.
