Quick Takes

Published: September 2011

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Population

• Total population of the European Union (EU-27) in January 2011 was 502,489,143.¹
• There were 104.8 women for every 100 men, equating to 51.2% women compared with 48.8% men.²
• The median age of the EU was 40.6 years in 2009.³

Education

• In 2010, 81.8% of women aged 20 to 24 completed at least upper secondary education compared with 76.2% of men.⁴
• In 2009, enrollment in tertiary schools was 19,470. 55.5% of those students were women, compared with 44.5% of men.⁵

Government

• Of the 27 cabinet members that make up the current European Commission, nine are women, or 33.3%.⁶
• At present, of the 736 Parliament seats and slightly over one-third are women.⁷
• In 2011,
  • Eight of the 36 members that make up the Court of Justice of the European Communities are women, or 22.2%⁸;
  • Seven of the 28 members of the General Court are women, or 25.0%⁹;
  • Three of the eight members of the Civil Service Tribunal are women, or 37.5%.¹⁰
• There are currently seven major political parties within the EU Parliament with nine leaders; one is a woman, or 11.1%.¹¹

Labour Force

• In 2010, the total labour force participation rate for persons aged 15 to 64 was 64.2%; 58.2% of females were employed compared with 70.1% of males.¹²
• Women earned 17.1% of what men in earned in 2009 (provisional value).¹³

Women’s Share of the Labour Force by Individual Country, 2010¹⁴

 

 

Fertility Rate

• The fertility rate was 1.56 live births per woman in 2008 for the EU.¹⁵
• The fertility rate gap between countries with the highest and lowest rates has been converging, narrowing to 0.8 in 2008.¹⁶

Boards of Directors

• In 2010, 571 out of 4,875 board seats were held by women, or 11.7%, compared to 9.7% in 2008, 8.5% in 2006 and 8.0% in 2004.¹⁷

 

NOTE: All figures are based on the 27 countries that make up the EU as of 2011.

SOURCES

¹ Eurostat, "Total population" (2011).

² Eurostat, "Women per 100 men" (2010).

³ Eurostat, The Eurostat Pocketbook Key Figures on Europe -- 2011 Edition.

⁴ Eurostat, "Persons of the age 20 to 24 having completed at least upper secondary education by gender."

⁵ Eurostat, "Students: Tertiary Education" (June 2008). Eurostat, "Share of women among tertiary students" (June 2008).

⁶ European Commission, "The Members of the Barroso Commission: 2010-2014" (2010).

⁷ European Parliament, "Members."

⁸ The Court of Justice of the European Communities, "Court of Justice: Presentation of the Members."

⁹ The Court of Justice of the European Communities, "General Court: Presentation of the Members."

¹⁰ The Court of Justice of the European Communities, "The Civil Service Tribunal: Presentation of the Members."

¹¹ European Parliament, "Political groups."

¹² Eurostat, "Employment rate by gender" (2010).

¹³ Eurostat, "Gender pay gap in unadjusted form" (2009).

¹⁴ LABORSTA, "Economically active Population Estimates and Projections, 1980-2020."

¹⁵ Eurostat, The The Eurostat Pocketbook Key Figures on Europe -- 2011 Edition.

¹⁶ Eurostat, The The Eurostat Pocketbook Key Figures on Europe -- 2011 Edition

¹⁷ European Women's Professional Network, "Fourth Bi-Annual European PWN Board Women Monitor 2010" (2010).

UPDATED on September 29, 2011