In 2023, 49% of Ireland's 343,400 scientists and engineers were women, putting us in joint fourth place with Latvia. Only Denmark (50.8%), Spain (50.0 %) and Bulgaria (49.1%) had higher shares.
The EU average was 41%. The lowest representation of female scientists and engineers was in Hungary (30.7%), followed by Finland (31.4%), Italy (34.1%), and Slovakia and Malta (each 34.3%).
In 2023, there were 7.7 million female scientists and engineers in the EU, 381,200 more than in 2022.
Across all economic activities present in the statistical classification of economic activities in the EU (NACE rev. 2), women represented 41.0% of the scientists and engineers workforce. This share was higher in services related activities at 45.6%. In manufacturing, women represented 22.4% of scientists and engineers, while in other activities that share was 23.9%.
Image: Source dataset: hrst_st_nsecsex2.
Among the EU countries, the proportion of female scientists and engineers varied widely in 2023, with the highest shares registered in Denmark (50.8%), Spain (50.0 %,) and Bulgaria (49.1%), Latvia and Ireland (each 49%). The lowest representation of female scientists and engineers was in Hungary (30.7%), followed by Finland (31.4%), Italy (34.1%), and Slovakia and Malta (each 34.3%).
At level 1 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 1), female scientists and engineers were in the majority in 12 EU regions:
- Four regions of Spain: Canarias (59.2%), Noroeste (54.2%), Centro (53.5%) and Noreste (52.2%);
- Two regions of Portugal: Região Autónoma dos Açores (57.5%) and Madeira (55.8%);
- Makroregion Wschodni (56.5%) and Makroregion Centralny (52.6%) in Poland, Severna i yugoiztochna in Bulgaria (54.4%), Norra Sverige in Sweden (51.5%), as well as Denmark (50.8%), and Corse in France (50.5%).
Image: Source dataset: hrst_st_rsex
At the other end of the scale, the smallest proportion of female scientists and engineers was recorded in the Hungarian regions of Közép-Magyarország (30.1%) and Dunántúl (31.1%), followed by the German region of Baden-Württemberg (30.8%), the Finnish region of Manner-Suomi (31.4%), and Sud in Italy (30.6%).