For the past 15 years, the Nordic Labour Journal has examined whether a man or a woman has held 24 different positions in the five Nordic countries.
Read the article in Swedish on Arbeidsliv i Norden
The measurement date is 8 March. Provided there are no last-minute changes, in this year’s barometer, the women score 63 points. 100 points would be full gender equality. This is a five points decline from 2024.
It is the third year the number of women has fallen or remained the same in positions of power, where 13 are government ministers, five are heads of central labour market organisations and six are posts that symbolise power in various ways – from heads of state to central bank heads and archbishops.
How we calculated
50 percent female government minister representation might look like gender equality has been accomplished. But it also depends on which positions are being held by women.
We have distributed 200 points – 40 for each Nordic country. 100 female points equals full gender equality.
We have looked at 13 government minister posts. Each gives one point except prime minister (5), finance minister (3) and foreign minister (2).
We have also included leaders of the largest trade unions and employers’ organisations:
Leaders of confederations of trade unions (4), leaders of service industries unions (2), leaders of trade unions for academics (2), leaders of employers’ organisations (2) and managing directors at employers’ organisations (2).
And finally, six important symbolic positions:
Heads of state, supreme court presidents, heads of central banks, archbishops, police commissioners and commander-in-chief.
Heads of state get three points, while the others get one each. We have not included leaders of major companies because they are not considered to be employed as a result of a democratic process. We measure at 8am on 8 March each year.
We have made certain adjustments for Iceland. Since the country only has eleven government ministries, some ministers have been given an extra point, giving Iceland the same maximum of 40 points as the other Nordic countries.
When we launched the barometer in 2011, women got 59 points. Then, it rapidly escalated. By 2014, women in Norway had 20 of the 40 points that were issued to each country.
At their peak in 2022, women in the Nordics secured 92 points.
If the trend had continued, women and men would quickly have reached 100 points each, and we would have been able to declare the entire Nordic region as gender equal when it comes to these positions of power.
But then the points fell to 74 in 2023 and down to 68 the following year where they stayed in 2025. This year, however, the barometer is another five points down, to 63.
What is behind this trend? Here is a country-by-country rundown:
Denmark
Just one month after 8 March last year, Lisbeth Lintz quit as leader of the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne), which has 500,000 members. She stepped down because of family illness and was replaced by Tomas Kepler.
In September, the Minister of Labour, Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, moved to the ministry of taxation in a government reshuffle. She was replaced by Kaare Dybvad.
Since the Minister for Taxation is not one of the ministerial positions covered by the barometer, this means that Denmark loses three points and falls from 10 to 7 (the leader of Akademikerne counts two points).
At the same time, Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen is the first female Minister for Taxation in Denmark. The ministry was established in 1975, and 24 men have preceded her in the often precarious post.
This is the fourth government ministry she has headed, but also one of the most difficult. There have been five different ministers for taxation in the past six years.
She has already been the subject of much media coverage and has come in for criticism, not least for firing 600 tax authority staff one week before Christmas in 2025.
She has also been responsible for the one-off check that the government wants to issue to two million citizens. It is called “the food check” and is meant to be a tax-free contribution to household expenses of up to 5,000 Danish kroner (€ 670) for a family with two children.
The check could be seen as an answer to the political challenges Mette Frederiksen has been facing domestically.
Although the country is united in the face of US pressure under a coalition government spanning the political blocks, the collaboration between the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the Moderates comes at a political cost.
The 2025 local elections ended in a big defeat for Mette Frederiksen’s party. For the first time in 100 years, the Social Democrats lost power in Copenhagen.
Denmark heads to the polls in parliamentary elections on 24 March this year.
Finland
Kaisa Juuso stepped down as Minister of Social Affairs on 12 February this year. She represents the Finns Party and was in charge of implementing large cuts to the ministry’s budget – a task she did not finish.
For a nurse from Lapland who had run on a ticket promising higher salaries for healthcare workers, it became hard to try to find savings to the tune of 100 million euro. She was also severely criticised by the opposition for her policies.
“The opposition’s criticism has sometimes been unfounded and has resembled bullying,” said the True Finns’ parliamentary group leader Jani Mäkelä.
Kaisa Juuso went on sick leave at the same time as she stepped down.
There is often less focus on female representation when a minister steps down mid-term. It is more important to find someone experienced who can step in at short notice. Wille Rydman became Kaisa Juuso’s replacement.
He was the Minister of Economic Affairs until June 2025 and is now making a quick come back.
There have been no other changes that impact the gender equality barometer, and Finland ends on 12 points – one down from last year. 10 of the government’s 19 ministers are still women.
Female representation is lacking in labour market leadership positions and in the symbolic positions of power.
Iceland
There have also been smaller changes in the Icelandic government. Inga Sæland moved from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing – with responsibility for labour market issues – to become the Minister of Education on 11 January this year.
She was replaced by Ragnar Þór Ingólfsson. Since Iceland only has 11 government ministers, some positions are awarded two points, including the Minister of Social Affairs and Housing. Iceland loses one point in the barometer, since the Minister of Education only gets one.
Sigríður Björk Guðjónsdóttir also announced her retirement as national police commissioner on 10 November 2025. Grímur Hergeirsson, the former chief of police in South Iceland, is the caretaker leader until a new person for the top policing job is found.
Four people have applied, including Hergeirsson himself. Two of the other applicants are women.
Sigríður Björk Guðjónsdóttirs stepped down after being criticised for spiralling costs linked to a relocation of operations due to mould damage in the old premises. One company in particular received substantial consultancy fees.
Norway
The 2025 parliamentary elections ended with a red-green majority. However, the Labour Party became dependent on the parliamentary support of the radical Red Party to carry on ruling as a minority government.
Since the Centre Party had left the government in February 2024, only small changes were made after the election. Several of the government ministers had been in their roles for less than a year before the election.
Minister of Labour Tonje Brenna did get a different role, however. She took over as Labour’s parliamentary leader, while Kjersti Sensing became the new Minister of Labour. She was previously the Labour Party’s secretary.
There was also a change at the top of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) when Peggy Følsvik announced she would not serve another term. Before the LO congress in May 2025, it looked like Jørn Eggum would be a shoe-in.
He was the leader of LO’s largest union – The United Federation of Trade Unions, representing 175,000 members.
Then it emerged that he had had secret intimate affairs with several women – including elected representatives in his own federation, he withdrew his candidacy. Kine Asper Vistnes, deputy leader of the federation, was elected instead.
Although these two changes did not affect Norway’s points in the barometer, which remain 13, it is interesting that the change at the top of LO was due to accusations levelled against one of the candidates’ moral standards.
The same thing happened in 2023, when the Danish Trade Union Confederation changed leaders. Back then, it was Lizette Risgaard who had been accused of sexual harassment of young men in the confederation.
Sweden
With 25 government ministers, Sweden has a larger government than any other Nordic country. There are often several ministers in each ministry. The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, with four ministers, has the most.
Our barometer includes 13 of the government ministers. Compared to last year, there has been minor changes – all triggered by a leadership change in the Liberal Party.
Johan Pehrsson was followed by Simona Mohamsson, who has a foreign background (she was born in Germany with Palestinian/Lebanese heritage).
Mohamsson became party leader on 24 June 2025, and four days late, she also took over Pehrsson’s post as Minister of Education and Integration.
At the same time, the then Minister of Employment Mats Persson announced he was stepping down, arguing she should be given the opportunity to create her own team. Johan Britz became the new Minister of Employment.
That means that Sweden, as the only Nordic country, gained one point in the barometer and ended on 12 points in total – still a long way from the 20 points that would mean full gender equality.
But Sweden goes to the polls in parliamentary elections this autumn. Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson could return as Prime Minister. She was the country’s first female PM between 30 November 2021 to 18 October 2022.
Sooner or later, there will also be a change of regent in Sweden. On 8 March this year, Carl Gustaf will have ruled for 173 days longer than Queen Margrethe of Denmark, when she abdicated after 52 years on the throne.
In Sweden, Crown Princess Victoria will be Queen when her father dies, and her daughter Estella, now 14, will be the new Crown Princess. There are not many positions of power that come with such long-term foresight!
