EU comparison: Low proportion of women in top positions in Germany

Women are significantly less represented in top management positions in Germany than in other European countries. In 2024, around 1.32 million men held leadership positions in Germany , while only 540,000 women were counted in top positions, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This corresponds to a share of 29.1 percent. "This figure was significantly below the European Union (EU) average of 35.2 percent," the Federal Statistical Office concluded.

Sweden, as in the previous year, holds the top spot in the EU comparison with a female representation of 44.4 percent. Latvia (43.4 percent) and Poland (41.8 percent) also recorded relatively high rates. Cyprus brings up the rear: there, only 25.3 percent of managers are women.

Since 2014, the proportion of female managers in Germany has remained virtually unchanged: at 29.0 percent, it was only 0.1 percentage points lower than at 29.1 percent in 2024. In contrast, the EU average for the proportion of female managers rose by 3.4 percentage points during this period. The increase was particularly strong in Sweden (+7.3 percentage points), Estonia (+7.2), and the island nations of Cyprus (+7.8) and Malta (+10.3).

"The low proportion of women in management positions in Germany is particularly striking, given that almost as many women as men are employed here," the statisticians explain. Their share of the total workforce in 2024 was 46.9 percent, slightly above the EU average (46.4 percent). In contrast, the proportion of women in leadership positions in Italy, at 27.9 percent, was similar to that in Germany, although women made up a lower proportion of the total workforce at 42.5 percent. In Austria, on the other hand, the proportion of women in top positions was significantly higher at 36.2 percent than in Germany, despite a similar proportion of women in the total workforce (47.5 percent).