In 2024, the proportion of women in boards of four members or more of companies with 50 employees or more was 41.9% for public limited companies and 38.9% for private limited companies. The corresponding proportions in 2023 were 41.4% and 36.5%, respectively, leading to a slight increase between years in the proportion of women where board members are four or more.
In boards of directors with three members, the proportion was 33.3% for public limited companies and 32.5% for private limited companies. The corresponding proportions in 2023 were 35.9% and 32.8%, respectively. On the other hand, for private limited companies with two board members, the proportion was 22.8%, decreasing from 25.4% in 2023.
Over the last two decades, there has been a general steady increase in the proportion of women in boards of directors, varying slightly from year to year for different types of boards of directors. This can be seen in the increase in the proportion of women in boards of large companies with four members or more, while there is a decrease in said proportion for companies with two or three members on the board of directors. The proportion of women in boards of directors increases with both the size of the boards of directors, and size of the companies measured in number of employees, and it is higher in public limited companies than in private limited companies.
Mixed gender proportion in boards of directors
In 2010, a law was passed for companies of 50 employees or more which stated that when there are three board members, the board should contain both men and women, and for boards of four or more members, the proportion of women should be 40%-60%. This law dealt with both public and private limited companies, cooperative societies and unlimited partnerships. In the case of private limited companies, the law furthermore stated that boards of directors having two board members should also contain a man and a woman. This law came into effect in September 2013.
Looking at companies of 50 employees or more, the share of companies with a mixed board of directors has been steadily increasing for over a decade. In 2013, the proportion of companies that had at least one board member of each gender (in boards with two or three members), or that had a proportion of women ranging between 40% and 60% (for boards with four members or more), ranged from 33% (private limited companies having boards with 2 members) to 68% (public limited companies having boards with three members).
In 2024, the same proportion ranged from 79.8% (private limited companies with three members on the board of directors) to 85.4% (public limited companies with three members on the board of directors), varying by legal form and size of the board of directors. An exception is private limited companies having two members on the board of directors, where the proportion of companies having mixed boards of directors was 45.6%. For most types of boards of directors, there was slight decrease in the proportion of women (1.4-1.8 percentage points). However, there was an increase of 5.3 percentage points of boards of directors of four members or more, from 75.6% to 80.9%.
Managers and chairs of the board
The proportion of women as managers of enterprises in 2024 was 24.4%, continuing a slight but steady increase since 1999. Proportion of women as chairs of the board was 25.1% in 2024.
One individual with gender-neutral/other registration was registered as a manager in 2024. Also, there were three registered board members with gender-neutral/other registration on boards of directors of Icelandic companies in 2024, thereof two as chairman of the board.
About the data
Figures on the number of chairs and members of boards of directors and managing directors are published by gender and age, economic activity and company size, and figures on board members are also published by legal form and number of board members. Since the last publication, more detailed data on business activity in 2023 has been added and previous figures updated accordingly.