First women prime ministers

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold the office. As prime minister, she implemented policies that came to be known as Thatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style.

Prime Minister of India (1966-1977; 1980-1984)

11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan (1953–2007)

Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974

Giorgia Meloni is an Italian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy since October 2022. She is the first woman to hold the office and the head of the third-longest government in the history of the Italian Republic. A member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006, she has been president of the right-wing to far-right party Brothers of Italy (FdI) since 2014, and was president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party from 2020 to 2025.

Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013

Ukrainian politician, former Prime Minister

Estonian politician and former prime minister of Estonia (born 1977)

29th Prime Minister of Norway

Sanae Takaichi is a Japanese politician who has been Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since October 2025. She is the first woman to hold either of these positions in Japanese history. A member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 and since 2005, she also held ministerial posts during the premierships of Shinzo Abe and Fumio Kishida.

Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) from 1960–65, 1970–77, 1994–2000

Prime Minister of Thailand from 2011 to 2014

Turkish politician, who has been the first female and 22nd prime minister of the country

Prime Minister of Sweden from 2021 to 2022, Swedish politician and economist

Icelandic politician

President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia

Danish retired politician, former Prime Minister of Denmark

19th Prime Minister of Canada in 1993

Begum Khaleda Zia was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second female prime minister in the Muslim world after Benazir Bhutto. She was the wife of the former president of Bangladesh and army chief, Ziaur Rahman. She was the longest serving chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from 1984 until her death in 2025.

prime minister of Barbados since 2018

Belgian politician

Prime Minister of France from 1991 to 1992

Croatian politician

Slovak politician and sociologist, former prime minister

Sushila Karki is a Nepalese lawyer and stateswoman who served as Chief Justice of Nepal from 2016 to 2017 and as interim prime minister of Nepal from 2025 to 2026. She became prime minister following the Gen Z-led protests of September 2025 that led to her predecessor’s resignation. Karki is the first woman in Nepal’s history to serve both as prime minister and as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal.

Slovenian politician

67th Prime Minister of Romania (2018-2019)

Mozambican politician (1958–2026)

12th Prime Minister of Latvia (born 1951)

New Zealand politician

former prime minister of Jamaica

Moldovan politician

Finnish politician

politician from Trinidad and Tobago

Portuguese politician (1930–2004)

Burundian politician

Polish political figure, Prime Minister of Poland

Vice President of Gabon in 2023

Tunisian engineer, academic and politician

Yugoslav politician (1924–2010)

Prime Minister of Dominica

Prime Minister of Togo (2020-present)

Prime Minister of Samoa from 2021 to 2025

Senegalese politician

Prime Minister of Rwanda (1953-1994)

Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (1925-2005)

Prime Minister and Former Minister of Planning in the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Lithuanian politician

Liechtenstein lawyer and politician (born 1964)

Santomese politician, first female prime minister

Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus (born 1960)

Prime Minister of Mali

Prime Minister of Haiti

Peruvian lawyer and politician

South African activist (1937–2006)