Nigeria's proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) was 4.21% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 1.34 percentage points from 5.56% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 4.21% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 7.22% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 5.56% | 2015 |
| Highest | 7.22% | 2020 |
| Lowest | 3.38% | 2019 |
| Average since 2016 | 4.65% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 3.42% | 2000 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Nigeria's proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) rose 0.3 percentage points on 2024 (from 3.91% to 4.21%).
Across the 24 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2024), the average change was +0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.31 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.84 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.61 percentage points in 2021. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 26% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Nigeria had the 177th highest value of the 184 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 4.21% | 2025 |
| World | 27.25% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 27.03% | 2025 |
| Lower middle income | 23.63% | 2025 |
Closest to Nigeria in the 2025 ranking
- Syrian Arab Republic — 174th of 184: 4.92%
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 175th of 184: 4.91%
- Bhutan — 176th of 184: 4.26%
- Tonga — 178th of 184: 3.85%
- Maldives — 179th of 184: 3.23%
- Papua New Guinea — 180th of 184: 2.7%
What this measures
Women in parliaments are the percentage of parliamentary seats in a single or lower chamber held by women.
Limitations: The number of countries covered varies with suspensions or dissolutions of parliaments. There can be difficulties in obtaining information on by-election results and replacements due to death or resignation. These changes are ad hoc events which are more difficult to keep track of. By-elections, for instance, are often not announced internationally as general elections are. Parliaments vary considerably in their internal workings and procedures, however, generally legislate, oversee government and represent the electorate.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 26 values
| Year | Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.21 |
| 2024 | 3.91 |
| 2023 | 3.91 |
| 2022 | 3.61 |
| 2021 | 3.61 |
| 2020 | 7.22 |
| 2019 | 3.38 |
| 2018 | 5.56 |
| 2017 | 5.56 |
| 2016 | 5.56 |
| 2015 |
Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) in nearby economies
- Angola — 39.09% (2025)
- Benin — 26.61% (2025)
- Botswana — 8.96% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 18.31% (2025)
- Burundi — 39.64% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 44.44% (2025)
- Cameroon — 33.89% (2025)
- Central African Republic — 11.43% (2025)
- Chad — 33.51% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Nigeria's proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%)?
- 4.21% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2000?
- It is up 0.79 percentage points from 3.42% in 2000. The highest value was 7.22% in 2020 and the lowest 3.38% in 2019.
- How does Nigeria rank?
- 177th highest of 184 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) unusual for Nigeria?
- In 2025, Nigeria's proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) rose 0.3 percentage points on 2024 (from 3.91% to 4.21%). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2024), the average change was +0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.31 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SG.GEN.PARL.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Monthly ranking of women in national parliaments, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), uri: https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking/, note: For the year of 1998, the data is as of August 10, 1998., type: Excel, date accessed: 2026-03-29 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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