12 women who are Heads of State in the world currently

Of 193 UN member states, 12 are currently led by a woman as president or prime minister.

That is fewer than 7 per cent.

Nine of these 12 women are the first ever to hold the position in their country.

The longest-serving female head of government in the world right now.

Barbados' first female prime minister, she has won three consecutive elections, most recently in February 2026, in which her Labour Party won all 30 seats in the House of Assembly.

She led Barbados to become a republic in November 2021, removing the British monarchy as head of state.

Hassan became Tanzania's president on March 19, 2021, following the death of President John Magufuli.

She was constitutionally next in line as vice president.

She is East Africa's only sitting female head of state.

The DRC's first female prime minister, appointed June 12, 2024.

An economist with a master's degree from the Université libre de Bruxelles, she previously worked at Citibank and UNDP before entering government.

She took office with the country's conflict in its eastern provinces still unresolved.

Latvia's first female prime minister, in office since September 15, 2023.

A lawyer by training, she took over after her predecessor resigned following coalition disputes.

Her government's priority has been national security and NATO integration.

Latvia shares a border with Russia and is among NATO's highest defence spenders relative to GDP.

Re-elected by parliament in January 2024, Heine first served from 2016 to 2020 and was the first female head of state in the Pacific Islands region.

The Marshall Islands, home to roughly 42,000 people, sits mostly less than two metres above sea level.

Heine has been a consistent international voice on climate change and ocean rights.

In office since June 27, 2019, Frederiksen was Denmark's youngest prime minister at the time of her first appointment.

She has won two consecutive elections leading the Social Democrats and has maintained a firm stance on immigration while governing from the centre-left.

Iceland's second female president, inaugurated August 1, 2024.

A businesswoman and entrepreneur, she won the June 2024 presidential election with 34.3 per cent of the vote.

Alongside Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, she makes Iceland the only republic in the world where both the head of state and head of government are women simultaneously.

An economist who studied at the University of Iceland, Boston University, and Yale, she became Iceland's prime minister in December 2024 at 36, making her one of the youngest serving heads of government in the world.

She is Iceland's third female prime minister.

Mexico's first female president, inaugurated October 1, 2024, after winning June 2024's election with 59.4 per cent - the largest margin in Mexico's modern democratic history.

A climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor, she is the first woman to lead the country in 200 years of independence.

Inaugurated March 21, 2025, after winning the November 2024 election with 58.7 per cent of the vote.

Namibia's first female president and only the second woman directly elected to a presidency in Africa, after Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

She joined Namibia's independence movement at 14 and spent years in exile before returning when independence was achieved in 1990.

Suriname's first female president, inaugurated July 16, 2025, after a two-thirds National Assembly majority elected her under a six-party coalition deal.

A dermatologist who chaired the National Assembly for a decade, she leads a country on the verge of its first offshore oil production, expected to begin in 2028.

Japan's first female prime minister, in office since October 21, 2025.

She called a snap election in January 2026; her Liberal Democratic Party won 316 of 465 seats in the National Diet, which is the most ever won by a single party in the postwar era.

Japan has one of the lowest rates of women in political leadership among developed economies.