News 19 Mar 2015

Forty per cent of Members of Parliament are women in the Nordic countries

According to the Nordic Gender Equality in Figures publication, around 40 per cent of Members of Parliament are women in the Nordic countries, while the average for the EU countries is 23 per cent. In Sweden, the share of female Members of Parliament is the highest, 45 per cent. In Finland, 42.5 per cent of the Members of Parliament are women.

The labour market in the Nordic countries is highly segregated by sex. Of all employed women, 43 per cent work in the two most female-dominated fields, namely education, and human health and social activities, while only 11 per cent of employed men work in these fields. The most male-dominated fields in the Nordic countries are, in turn, manufacturing, construction, and transportation and storage. These three industries employ 37 per cent of all employed men, and ten per cent of all employed women.

These data derive from the new Nordic Gender Equality in Figures 2015 publication that describes gender equality in the Nordic countries, as well as differences and similarities between the counties. The main topics of the publication are health, education, working life and decision-making.

The pocketbook on equality has been produced in cooperation between the Nordic statistical agencies and the Nordic Council of Ministers. The publication is also available free of charge in PDF format.