Rwanda recorded the world’s highest share of women in parliament after its 2008 election.
Women won 45 of the 80 seats in Rwanda’s Chamber of Deputies in the September 2008 election, representing 56.3 percent of the chamber. This made Rwanda the first country where women held a majority in a national parliament.
The result followed constitutional and electoral measures requiring significant representation of women, including reserved seats elected through special electoral colleges. Rwanda’s post-genocide political reconstruction also increased women’s formal participation in public institutions.
The statistic refers specifically to the 2008 Chamber of Deputies result, not to every parliamentary chamber or every later election. Rwanda’s parliament has two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.