Share of women in parliament in Japan

Japan: Share of women in parliament was 15.7% in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
15.7%
Change on year
up 45.4%
World rank
139th
of 174 countries
All-time high
15.7%
in 2025
All-time low
0.0%
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Share of women in parliament in Japan, 1900–2025

051015190019622025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2025, share of women in parliament in Japan stood at 15.7%. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 45.4% on the previous year and up 65.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of women in parliament in Japan peaked at 15.7% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1900.

That places Japan 139th out of 174 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Share of women in parliament in Japan, year by year

Annual values for Share of women in parliament in Japan, 1900 to 2025.
Year % Change
1900 0.0%
1901 0.0%
1902 0.0%
1903 0.0%
1904 0.0%
1905 0.0%
1906 0.0%
1907 0.0%
1908 0.0%
1909 0.0%
1910 0.0%
1911 0.0%
1912 0.0%
1913 0.0%
1914 0.0%
1915 0.0%
1916 0.0%
1917 0.0%
1918 0.0%
1919 0.0%
1920 0.0%
1921 0.0%
1922 0.0%
1923 0.0%
1924 0.0%
1925 0.0%
1926 0.0%
1927 0.0%
1928 0.0%
1929 0.0%
1930 0.0%
1931 0.0%
1932 0.0%
1933 0.0%
1934 0.0%
1935 0.0%
1936 0.0%
1937 0.0%
1938 0.0%
1939 0.0%
1940 0.0%
1941 0.0%
1942 0.0%
1943 0.0%
1944 0.0%
1945 0.0%
1946 8.4%
1947 3.2% -61.9%
1948 3.2% +0.0%
1949 2.6% -18.8%
1950 2.6% +0.0%
1951 2.6% +0.0%
1952 1.9% -26.9%
1953 1.9% +0.0%
1954 1.9% +0.0%
1955 1.7% -10.5%
1956 1.7% +0.0%
1957 1.7% +0.0%
1958 2.4% +41.2%
1959 2.4% +0.0%
1960 1.5% -37.5%
1961 1.5% +0.0%
1962 1.5% +0.0%
1963 1.5% +0.0%
1964 1.5% +0.0%
1965 1.5% +0.0%
1966 1.5% +0.0%
1967 1.4% -6.7%
1968 1.4% +0.0%
1969 1.6% +14.3%
1970 1.6% +0.0%
1971 1.6% +0.0%
1972 1.4% -12.5%
1973 1.4% +0.0%
1974 1.4% +0.0%
1975 1.4% +0.0%
1976 1.2% -14.3%
1977 1.2% +0.0%
1978 1.2% +0.0%
1979 2.2% +83.3%
1980 1.8% -18.2%
1981 1.8% +0.0%
1982 1.8% +0.0%
1983 1.6% -11.1%
1984 1.6% +0.0%
1985 1.6% +0.0%
1986 1.4% -12.5%
1987 1.4% +0.0%
1988 1.4% +0.0%
1989 1.4% +0.0%
1990 2.3% +64.3%
1991 2.3% +0.0%
1992 2.3% +0.0%
1993 2.7% +17.4%
1994 2.7% +0.0%
1995 2.7% +0.0%
1996 4.6% +70.4%
1997 4.6% +0.0%
1998 4.6% +0.0%
1999 4.6% +0.0%
2000 7.3% +58.5%
2001 7.3% +0.0%
2002 7.3% +0.0%
2003 7.1% -2.9%
2004 7.1% +0.0%
2005 9.0% +26.6%
2006 9.4% +5.0%
2007 9.0% -4.8%
2008 9.0% +0.0%
2009 11.2% +25.6%
2010 11.2% +0.0%
2011 11.2% +0.0%
2012 7.9% -29.6%
2013 7.9% +0.0%
2014 9.5% +19.6%
2015 9.5% +0.0%
2016 9.3% -2.2%
2017 10.1% +9.2%
2018 10.2% +0.4%
2019 9.9% -2.6%
2020 9.9% +0.0%
2021 9.9% +0.2%
2022 9.9% -0.1%
2023 10.3% +4.4%
2024 10.8% +4.4%
2025 15.7% +45.4%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10
1910s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10
1920s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10
1930s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10
1940s 1.7% 0.0% 8.4% 10
1950s 2.1% 1.7% 2.6% 10
1960s 1.5% 1.4% 1.6% 10
1970s 1.5% 1.2% 2.2% 10
1980s 1.6% 1.4% 1.8% 10
1990s 3.3% 2.3% 4.6% 10
2000s 8.4% 7.1% 11.2% 10
2010s 9.7% 7.9% 11.2% 10
2020s 11.1% 9.9% 15.7% 6

Countries ranked near Japan

  1. 136 Russia 16.4% compare
  2. 137 Hong Kong 16.0% compare
  3. 138 Tunisia 15.8% compare
  4. 140 Hungary 15.6% compare
  5. 141 Togo 15.0% compare
  6. 141 Zambia 15.0% compare

See the full ranking of 174 places →

More gender data for Japan

All data for Japan →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of women in parliament in Japan?
Share of women in parliament in Japan was 15.7% in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of women in parliament recorded in Japan?
The highest recorded value was 15.7% in 2025.
What is the lowest share of women in parliament recorded in Japan?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1900.
How does Japan rank for share of women in parliament?
Japan ranks 139th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of women in parliament rising or falling in Japan?
Over the last ten years it is up 65.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Japan data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of women in parliament. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Share of women in parliament in Japan. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 01 September 2026, from https://gender.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-women-in-parliament/japan/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://gender.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-women-in-parliament/japan/">Share of women in parliament in Japan</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Share of women in parliament
Unit
%
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
174 places, 15,302 data points, 1900–2025
Last refreshed

Percentage of women in the lower or single chamber of the legislature.