Women are currently the head of government in 13 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations. These include Barbados, where Mia Mottley was just reelected as prime minster, and Japan, where Sanae Takaichi secured her position as prime minister in the country’s last parliamentary elections.

Takaichi is Japan’s first female prime minister. This makes her one of 10 women who are currently their country’s first female head of government, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.

Other current women leaders have had other women serve before them. For example, Kristrún Frostadóttir became Iceland’s third woman prime minister in 2024.

Read more at: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/03/02/about-a-third-of-un-member-countries-have-ever-had-a-woman-leader/