GGE06
Gender equality: power and decision-making
Despite the legislation of Latvia ensuring equal rights to both genders, representation of men and women in leading positions is still not equal. The greatest differences may be observed in politics and judicial system.
Politics
In Latvia, representation of women in decision-making has risen significantly over the past years.
Women accounted for almost one third of deputies elected to national parliament – Saeima – in 2022 (30 women out of 100 deputies or 30 %). The share in neighbouring countries was even smaller – 27.7 % in both Estonia and Lithuania. Following the 2025 municipal elections and changes to the list of Saeima members, the number of female members has now increased to 34.
Relatively high share of women may also be observed in local government. After the Riga City Council elections in 2020, the municipal elections in 2021, a total of 30.5 % of all 43 municipal elected deputies were women. In the municipal elections of 7 June 2025, 28.7 % of the 42 elected representatives in the municipalities were women. There are also more men among the mayors of local governments – only five local governments (11.9 %) are headed by women.
The most equal gender distribution among Latvian state cities with their own separate local government is in Daugavpils – 8 women (53.3 %) and 7 men (46.7 %). Whereas all elected candidates in Liepāja municipality are men.
Since September 15, 2023, the Prime Minister has been Evika Siliņa. The Cabinet of Ministers (including Prime Minister) consists of 15 ministers, five of whom are women (33.3 %). Since Latvia regained its independence, the country has had 17 Prime Ministers, only two of whom were women (Laimdota Straujuma (2014-2016) and Evika Siliņa). During this period, Latvia had eight Presidents, only one of whom was a woman – Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga.
Since September 20, 2023, Saiema Speaker position is taken by Daiga Mieriņa. Since the restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia, Saiema in total has had 11 Saeima Speakers, five of whom were women.
In the European Parliament, at least two to three women have always been elected as deputies from Latvia. In the election of 2019, three women deputies were elected among eight EU Parliament deputies, however work in the Parliament was overtaken by four men and four women. In the election of 2024 only two deputies were elected among nine EU Parliament deputies.
Judicial system
Female judges are more common within the court system of Latvia – 79.7 % of the judges in 2024 were women. Since 2014, the indicator has risen by 2.9 percentage points. The largest share of women is recorded in courts of first instance and regional courts.
In 2024, the majority of notaries were women (83.6 %). Women also predominate in the number of employees in the prosecutor's office, where they made up 60.3% of all employees.
Half of the lawyers in Latvia in 2024 were women, and over time this proportion has remained practically unchanged - within 50% (in 2024 - 50%).
Gender Equality Index – power
Latvian Gender Equality Index1 calculated by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in the domain Power, which measures gender equality in decision-making positions across the political, economic and social spheres, is assessed with 50.5 points (EU average 61.4). The main reason for the differences in the lower rating are political - for example, in Latvia compared to the EU, women are less often represented in the parliament, among members of regional municipalities, and on the boards of large companies.
Methodological explanations
1The index rating varies between 1 and 100, where 1 stands for absolute gender inequality and 100 for full gender equality.
Data source
Official statistics portal:
TSG040 Share of female judges
TSG050 Share of female public prosecutors
TSG060 Share of female advocates and notaries
Cabinet of Ministers Republic of Latvia:
Central Election Commission:
Municipal elections 2025
Municipal elections 2021