The number of women in top politics will fall in 2022. As a result of several government reshuffles, the share of women in the federal government dropped from 46.7 to 35.7 percent. Contrary to the European trend, there were also fewer women in the National Council and the state governments.
With a share of women of 35.7 percent, the Austrian federal government is only slightly above the average of the EU countries of 32.3 percent. “2022 was not a jubilee year for women in top Austrian politics,” summarizes the Institute for Parliamentarism and Democracy Issues in the current list. At the top are Spain (60.9 percent), Finland (57.9 percent), Belgium (53.3 percent), and France and the Netherlands with 50 percent each. If you add the three female secretaries of state and one secretary of state to that, eight (44.4 percent) of the 18 members of the federal government are women.
The number of women in the National Council also fell slightly from 76 to 74, or 40.4 percent. Here Austria is still well above the average of the EU countries of 32.4 percent. It rose slightly – each time by one woman – in the Bundesrat to 26 and in the state parliaments to 162. The number of Austrian representatives in the European Parliament (eight out of 19) did not change.
There are 0.9 percent more female mayors (10.4 percent) and 1.4 percent more female councilors (26 percent) than one year previously. Austria is therefore still well below the EU average of 34.5 percent for female municipal councilors and 17.7 percent for female mayors. In total, about 24 percent of all Austrian local politicians are women.
Slightly above the EU average
The number of women among the members of the state governments has also fallen slightly. In February 2023, 28 of the total of 73 (including the five non-executive city councilors in Vienna) are women, up from one last year. That is 39.7 percent and still above the EU average of 36.1 percent. Women are best represented in provincial governments in Styria at 50 percent, worst in Upper Austria at 22.2 percent.
The number of women in the state parliaments has hardly changed at 36.6 percent (EU average: 35.1 percent). Here, too, the situation is very different in the Länder: in Vorarlberg (47.2 percent), almost every second member of the Länder parliament is a woman, in Carinthia (22.2 percent) not even every fourth.
More women – but room for improvement
Across the EU there is an increase in women in top positions, albeit from a low base. Four of the 21 elected heads of state are now women, an increase from 14.3 to 19 percent. The number of female heads of government has risen from five to six and thus from 18.5 to 22.2 percent. However, the number of women in the EU institutions has fallen slightly, although both the EU Commission with Ursula von der Leyen and the European Parliament with Maltese Roberta Metsola are women. The proportion of women among the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament has fallen from 57.1 to 50 percent, and of the 27 members of the EU Commission, 12 – or 44.4 percent – are now women. The number has therefore decreased slightly compared to last year (13 female members or 48.1 percent).
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
