Representation of women in lower chamber of parliament in South Africa
South Africa: Representation of women in lower chamber of parliament was 0.86 in 2026. ▬ Flat
Latest (2026)
0.86
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
15th
of 171 countries
All-time high
0.91
in 2022
All-time low
0.86
in 2025
Years of data
6
2021–2026
Representation of women in lower chamber of parliament in South Africa, 2021–2026
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2026, representation of women in lower chamber of parliament in South Africa stood at 0.86. That is the lowest value across all 6 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.4% over ten years.
That places South Africa 15th out of 171 countries with data for 2026, putting it in the top 10%.
Representation of women in lower chamber of parliament in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 0.89 | — |
| 2022 | 0.91 | +2.2% |
| 2023 | 0.88 | -3.3% |
| 2024 | 0.88 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 0.86 | -2.3% |
| 2026 | 0.86 | +0.0% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 0.86 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.485, 1.8× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 0.86 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.465, 1.8× the median. (44 countries reporting)
Countries ranked near South Africa
More gender data for South Africa
- Child population (UN estimates and projections) 17,151 (2030)
- Child population (UN estimates and projections) (0-14), annual growth 0.6591 % change on previous year (2030)
- Population 51,011 (2030)
- Working-age population (UN estimates and projections) 51,011 (2030)
- Population (UN estimates and projections), annual growth rate 1.07 % change on previous year (2030)
- Age population, age 00, female, interpolated 570,099 (2025)
- Age population, age 00, male, interpolated 589,533 (2025)
- Age population, age 01, female, interpolated 570,599 (2025)
- Age population, age 01, male, interpolated 589,626 (2025)
- Age population, age 02, female, interpolated 569,634 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is representation of women in lower chamber of parliament in South Africa?
- Representation of women in lower chamber of parliament in South Africa was 0.86 in 2026, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest representation of women in lower chamber of parliament recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.91 in 2022.
- What is the lowest representation of women in lower chamber of parliament recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.86 in 2025.
- How does South Africa rank for representation of women in lower chamber of parliament?
- South Africa ranks 15th out of 171 countries with data for 2026.
- Is representation of women in lower chamber of parliament rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Representation of women in lower chamber of parliament. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 6 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).