Lawmakers in 2016 agreed on a minimum quota of 40% of women on all executive boards in public sector establishments

Luxembourg has seen a steady increase in the representation of women on the boards of public bodies, the ministry of equality said on Friday, as government efforts to implement a gender quota show results.

The proportion of women on the boards of public institutions in Luxembourg stood at 36% at the end of 2022, up from 34% in 2018 and 27% in 2015, Luxembourg’s minister of gender equality, Taina Bofferding, said in response to a parliamentary question.

The rate of women representing the state on the boards of public companies that the government has a stake in, increased only slightly at 41% in 2022, from 40% in 2018, the minister said.

Luxembourg’s lawmakers in 2016 agreed on a minimum quota of 40% of women on all executive boards in public establishments.

Unlike its neighbours – Belgium, France or Germany – Luxembourg has no diversity requirements for private companies specific to the country, nor is it considering introducing one, the ministry's spokesperson said three years ago.

However, the EU adopted a directive implementing gender quotas for the boards of private companies in November last year. As per the directive, 40% of non-executive directors or 33% of all directors in listed EU companies employing over 250 workers will have to be women by 2026.

"Social partners have received encouragement from the government through a letter urging them to appoint more women to the boards of directors," Bofferding said.

Earlier this year, a Luxembourg Times analysis of the 50 largest listed companies registered in Luxembourg showed only 22% of executive positions are held by women.

Separately, data from the Gender Equality Observatory showed just 4% of management positions in companies are held by women.

The EU's statistics agency Eurostat in March reported that women's hourly pay in Luxembourg overtook that of men by 0.2% in 2021, a feat previously only marked in the EU by Slovenia in 2009. Luxembourg has had the lowest gender pay gap in the bloc since 2015, according to Eurostat.

Meanwhile, in the political world, Luxembourg introduced a law in 2016 which states 40% of politicians on lists for legislative and European elections should be women.