Women in management: Proportion of female bosses in Germany below the EU average

Although almost half of all employed people in Germany are women, women only hold less than a third of management positions. What is it like in other EU countries?

Less than a third of management positions in Germany are held by women. (Illustration) Photo: Jan-Philipp Strobel/dpa

Wiesbaden. Women in leadership positions continue to be underrepresented in Germany. Although almost as many women are employed in this country as men, only 30.3 percent of management positions were held by women last year - less than a third. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. The value is therefore well below the European Union average of 35.9 percent.

In a ten-year comparison, the proportion of female managers in Germany has increased slightly by 1.0 percentage points. However, on average in Europe, the increase was significantly larger at 4.0 percentage points.

Sweden remains the leader

In 2025, Sweden was again at the top in the EU comparison with a proportion of women of 44.4 percent. Latvia (43.8 percent) and Estonia (43.1 percent) also recorded comparatively high rates. In comparison, there were fewer female managers in Italy (28.6 percent) and the Netherlands (30 percent). Cyprus came last with 25.9 percent.

Few female bosses despite high female employment

The low proportion of women in management positions is particularly noticeable in Germany because of the comparatively high number of working women, explained the Federal Statistical Office. Their share of all employed people was 47.1 percent in 2025, slightly above the EU average of 46.5 percent.

Although fewer women are employed in Italy, a similar number of management positions are held by women as in Germany, at 28.6 percent. In Austria, however, the proportion of leadership positions held by women in 2025 was significantly higher at 37.2 percent - with a similar proportion of women in all employees (47.5 percent).

Almost half of the government members in Germany are female

In Germany, the proportion of women in government is greater than in management levels. In the third quarter of 2026, according to data from the European Institute for Gender Equality, women made up 42.6 percent of government members in this country. This put Germany above the EU average of 33.5 percent. Finland has the largest proportion of women in government at 56.7 percent, closely followed by Denmark at 52.4 percent. The Czech Republic has the smallest proportion of women in government at 12.5 percent.