Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is the highest-ranked political newcomer to the Forbes list of the World’s Most Powerful Women, one of a few breakthroughs amid a year otherwise marked by sudden ousters, stalled progress toward parity and eroding perceptions among younger generations of women’s ability to lead.
The story of women in power in 2025 reads like a political crosscurrent: new doors opened in places where none had opened before, even as other seemingly stable footholds gave way. These two realities restructured many of the ranks in Forbes’ 2025 edition of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list. Though the top two spots on the list are for the fourth straight year occupied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde—and with present terms slated to end in 2029 and 2027, respectively, both leaders remain a steady presence on the world stage—much of the rest of the politics and policy category of the list was hit with institutional shocks, internal party battles, cultural shifts and cabinet reshuffles large enough to tip political scales around the world.
Consider, for instance, Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Last year, Shinawatra was Thailand’s youngest ever prime minister and appeared on the Power Women list at No. 29. This August, just over a year after she stepped into leadership, the constitutional court ousted Paetongtarn, citing an ethical breach linked to a leaked phone conversation with Cambodia’s former leader. Her removal triggered political chaos in Thailand and offered a reminder that attaining the top office offers no guarantee of enduring power.
In contrast to Paetongtarn’s swift ascent and decline, Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati—who appeared at No. 49 on last year’s list—was removed from power after a long tenure in leadership. Indrawati oversaw Southeast Asia’s largest economy for nearly 15 years across two terms: from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2016 to 2025 after leaving to become managing director at the World Bank. A long symbol of financial prudence, Indrawati first appeared on the Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list in 2008. In September 2025, nine years into her second term, she was ousted by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto with only an hour’s notice, shocking both officials and markets. The cabinet reshuffle, which involved the removal of five ministers, followed widespread protests fueled by anger over economic hardship and government spending priorities.
These losses, weighed against a few gains, bring the current count of women serving as head of state and government to 29 in the world—far below the 38 recorded in 2023. “We’re clearly in a stall,” says Linda Robinson, Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). “The number of female heads of state and government fluctuates annually, but overall we’ve seen a steady slowdown—especially at the legislative level. Women aren’t entering politics at the rates they once did, and we’re seeing attrition. Numerically, women’s leadership is simply stalling.”
It’s not just the number of female heads of state that has stalled: The Reykjavík Index, which measures public perception of female leaders, has fallen flat across the G7, which collectively received a score of 68 for the second year in a row (out of a potential 100). In Germany, the U.S. and the U.K, public confidence in female leadership dropped by two, three and four points (respectively) over last year’s survey. Outside of the G7, Iceland, which elected the world’s first ever female president in 1980 and now has a woman as president, prime minister, police commissioner, state prosecutor and bishop, has dropped to 86 from a high of 91 in 2022.
"A decade ago, we were thinking that time would take care of this. That has not been the case,” Michelle Harrison, cofounder of the index, says, referencing attitudes towards having women in power. “How do we continue to push forward with the institutional reforms required, so that once women have attained power, they are truly able to retain it?"
It’s a question Harrison is particularly interested in finding an answer for because another major takeaway from her research is that a growing number of younger people show weaker support for women in leadership compared to their parents' generation, something Harrison refers to as “retraditionalization.” “The decoupling of young people and progressiveness is an extraordinary thing,” says Harrison. “Since the 1950s, young cohorts, for decades, have been associated with progressive movements and attitudes. This is the first time we’ve seen that.”
The dynamics of female leadership are circular: perceptions of competence affect representation, and representation, in turn, shapes perception. The pace at which Harrison’s data is changing—especially among younger groups—concerns Robinson, who worries about the implications for future elections. “Some groups are encouraging women and girls to step back into traditional roles as homemakers and childbearers. We must not accept that incredibly unhelpful pivot to the past,” says Robinson.
Robinson and Harrison also point to a slew of factors discouraging women from entering politics: a war on diversity, equity and inclusion (happening both culturally and within corporations across the country), escalating threats and political violence, the influence of the online “manosphere” and the rise of deepfake pornography, something Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, No. 4 on this year’s list, has gone to court over.
Despite these headwinds, 2025 did bring a few notable gains for female political leaders—the biggest of which was Sanae Takaichi’s ascension to prime minister in Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy. Takaichi, who makes her Power Women list debut at No. 3, took office in October, becoming the first woman in Japanese history to hold the position. In a country long associated with dynastic, male-dominated political structures, her rise represents a departure from the status quo many observers hadn’t expected. But the milestone sits atop a more complicated reality when viewed from a gender lens: Takaichi is a hardline conservative who supports the imperial household’s male-only succession tradition, opposes married couples keeping separate surnames and named just two women to her 19-member cabinet, reinforcing tradition in the very system she broke into.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was sworn in as Namibia’s first female president on March 21, 2025, the same day the nation celebrated 35 years of independence. Her presidency carries continental significance, as only one other woman, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, has been democratically elected president in Africa. From the start, Nandi-Ndaitwah made it clear that she intended to bring other women with her to the nation’s highest offices, naming the first woman to serve as vice president and another to lead the national assembly. Her cabinet choices cemented that effort, giving women 57% of ministerial roles, a record for the nation. Nandi-Ndaitwah is No. 79 on this year’s Power list.
Lithuania’s September-appointed prime minister, Inga Ruginienė, enters the list at No. 81. After a corruption scandal forced Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas to resign in July, Lithuania needed a leader to restore stability and credibility. Ruginienė, a trade unionist with international experience, emerged as that figure. The former minister of social security and labor, who’d only just entered politics in 2024, was chosen by the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party as its candidate. After being confirmed by parliament, Ruginienė took on the task of restoring the government and cabinet whose collapse had cleared the way for her unexpected ascent to power.
The Women To Watch list, which last year included 2025 listee Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, includes several more women who have recently stepped into political power or are poised to do so in the near future. In its 80-year history, the United Nations has never had a female secretary-general, and already two women are in the running for the job. Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile (2006-2010, 2014-2018), UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2018-2022) and the first Executive Director of UN Women (2010-2012), is seen as a top candidate for the job due to her background and the fact that the role is expected to go to someone from the Latin American and Caribbean region due to an unwritten rule of rotating regions. Rebeca Grynspan, Costa Rica’s former vice president (1994 - 1998) and currently the Secretary-General of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, has also been put forward for the job by her home country and is considered another top contender.
As this year’s Power Women list demonstrates, political tides move fast, and 2026 may well unveil leaders no one saw coming. In spite of major challenges facing female politicians today, there are a few regions worth keeping an eye on as potential new centers for progress. In Nigeria, one of the world's most populous nations yet to elect a woman to its highest office, and Kenya, which saw its first woman to run for deputy president in 2022 but has yet to see a woman vie for the top job, public perception of female leaders is increasingly positive, according to this year’s Reykjavík Index. Looking ahead to next year’s election calendar, female candidates already appear poised for presidential races in Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru.
