Malta Records Second Largest Increase In Women MPs Across The EU

Malta has registered the second highest increase in female representation in parliament across the European Union over the past decade, highlighting significant progress in the country's political landscape.

According to newly released data, the share of women in Malta's parliament increased by 14.8 percentage points between 2015 and 2025, placing the country behind only Latvia, which recorded a 19.0 percentage point increase during the same period.

The rise in female representation is partly attributed to Malta's gender corrective mechanism, which was first introduced for the 2022 General Election. The mechanism grants additional parliamentary seats when either gender holds less than 40% of the seats in parliament, helping to create a more balanced representation.

The mechanism was once again triggered following the 2026 General Election, resulting in 12 women obtaining parliamentary seats through the system.

Across the European Union, women held 33.6% of seats in national parliaments in 2025, representing a 5.4 percentage point increase compared to 2015. This means that approximately one in every three parliamentarians across the EU is now a woman.

Among EU member states, Finland recorded the highest level of female parliamentary representation, with women accounting for 46.0% of MPs. Sweden followed closely with 44.8%, while Denmark stood at 44.7%.

At the other end of the scale, Cyprus had the lowest share of women in parliament at 14.3%, followed by Hungary at 15.6% and Romania at 22.0%.

#MaltaDaily