As of 01 January 2025, almost a third (32.3%) of Senior Executives in Ireland were female, up from 30.4% in 2023, which was the last time the survey was conducted.
More than a quarter (27.9%) of Boards of Directors members in Ireland were female in 2025, compared with 24.6% in 2023.
Female Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) increased slightly from 19.0% in 2023 to 19.2% in 2025.
Female Chairpersons were down slightly from 18.7% in 2023 to 17.8% in 2025.
More than a third (34.3%) of enterprises in the Services sector had at least 40% female representation on their Boards of Directors in 2025.
In 2025, a third (33.3%) of enterprises had set targets for the representation of females in Senior Executive roles.
Although the Construction sector at 15.2% had the lowest level of female representation in Senior Executive roles in 2025, it has increased from 13.4% in 2023 and 9.5% in 2021.
| Gender breakdown by senior roles in business, 2021, 2023 and 2025 | % | |||||
| 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | ||||
| Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | |
| Chairpersons | 86.0 | 14.0 | 81.3 | 18.7 | 82.2 | 17.8 |
| Boards of Directors | 78.2 | 21.8 | 75.4 | 24.6 | 72.1 | 27.9 |
| Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) | 86.6 | 13.4 | 81.0 | 19.0 | 80.8 | 19.2 |
| Senior Executives | 70.3 | 29.7 | 69.6 | 30.4 | 67.7 | 32.3 |
| Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) | 71.9 | 28.1 | 74.3 | 25.7 | 72.3 | 27.7 |
In 2025, 27.9% of members on Boards of Directors in Ireland were female, compared with 24.6% in 2023. Overall, almost a third (32.3%) of Senior Executives in 2025 were female, up from 30.4% in 2023. More than a quarter (27.7%) of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) were female, up from 25.7% in 2023. There was also a slight increase in the proportion of female Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in 2025 (19.2%) when compared with 2023 (19.0%). The number of female Chairpersons decreased from 18.7% in 2023 to 17.8% in 2025.
In 2025, more than a third (35.1%) of persons appointed to Senior Executive positions who were in their role for less than one year were female, while 28.1% of Senior Executives in their roles for five or more years were also female. In 2025, the proportion of long serving male Senior Executives with five or more years in the position had dropped from 73.7% in 2023 to 71.9% in 2025.
| X-axis label | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 1 year (2021) | 63.7 | 36.3 |
| Less than 1 year (2023) | 61.8 | 38.2 |
| Less than 1 year (2025) | 64.9 | 35.1 |
| 1-2 years (2021) | 64.8 | 35.2 |
| 1-2 years (2023) | 64.9 | 35.1 |
| 1-2 years (2025) | 63.9 | 36.1 |
| 3-4 years (2021) | 68.7 | 31.3 |
| 3-4 years (2023) | 65.1 | 34.9 |
| 3-4 years (2025) | 64.9 | 35.1 |
| 5 or more years (2021) | 75.9 | 24.1 |
| 5 or more years (2023) | 73.7 | 26.3 |
| 5 or more years (2025) | 71.9 | 28.1 |
In 2025, 61.4% of appointments to Senior Executive posts were from within the enterprise, while 38.6% of such positions were filled externally. A higher proportion of female internal appointments (32.7%) were made in 2025 compared with 31.6% of external female appointments.
In 2025, females accounted for 30.9% of Senior Executives in Irish-owned enterprises compared with 69.1% of males. Similarly, 33.4% of Senior Executives in foreign-owned enterprises in 2025 were female, up from 31.4% in 2023.
| Male | Female | |
| Irish-owned (2021) | 71.1 | 28.9 |
| Foreign-owned (2021) | 69.8 | 30.2 |
| Irish-owned (2023) | 71.3 | 28.8 |
| Foreign-owned (2023) | 68.7 | 31.4 |
| Irish-owned (2025) | 69.1 | 30.9 |
| Foreign-owned (2025) | 66.6 | 33.4 |
Accommodation and food service activities (41.9%) and Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (41.9%) had the highest proportion of female Senior Executives in 2025, followed by Financial and insurance activities (38.5%). Although the Construction sector had the lowest level of female representation in Senior Executive roles in 2025 at 15.2%, it has increased from 13.4% in 2023.
The gender breakdown of Boards of Directors of large enterprises in Ireland in 2025 comprised of 72.1% males and 27.9% females, compared with 75.4% male and 24.6% female in 2023. In 2025, 35.8% of Directors appointed for less than a year were female compared with 37.4% in 2023. Of the Directors who had served on the board for 1-2 years in 2025, 36.8% were female, an increase from 31.0% reported in 2023. Of the Directors appointed for five or more years in 2025, 20.9% were female and 79.1% were male.
| X-axis label | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 1 year (2021) | 69.2 | 30.8 |
| Less than 1 year (2023) | 62.6 | 37.4 |
| Less than 1 year (2025) | 64.2 | 35.8 |
| 1-2 years (2021) | 67.1 | 32.9 |
| 1-2 years (2023) | 69 | 31 |
| 1-2 years (2025) | 63.2 | 36.8 |
| 3-4 years (2021) | 80.5 | 19.5 |
| 3-4 years (2023) | 70.8 | 29.2 |
| 3-4 years (2025) | 69 | 31 |
| 5 or more years (2021) | 83.5 | 16.5 |
| 5 or more years (2023) | 81.4 | 18.6 |
| 5 or more years (2025) | 79.1 | 20.9 |
In 2025, almost one in eight (12.3%) of all female board members had been appointed in the last year. More than three in ten (30.1%) females had been on the board for 1 to 2 years, compared with over one in five (20.5%) on the board for 3 to 4 years. Directors with five or more years board membership in 2025 accounted for 54.1% of all male directors and 37.1% of all female directors.
In 2025, the percentage of female directors in Irish-owned enterprises and foreign-owned enterprises was very similar with 27.8% of female directors in Irish-owned enterprises and 27.7% in foreign-owned enterprises.
| Male | Female | |
| Irish-owned (2021) | 77.51 | 22.49 |
| Foreign-owned (2021) | 78.98 | 21.02 |
| Irish-owned (2023) | 75.9 | 24.2 |
| Foreign-owned (2023) | 75 | 25 |
| Irish-owned (2025) | 72.2 | 27.8 |
| Foreign-owned (2025) | 72.3 | 27.7 |
In 2025, 27.9% of the members on Boards of Directors in large enterprises in Ireland were female, an increase from 24.6% in 2023. The Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities sector had the highest percentage of female representation at board level at 41.4%, followed by the Information and communication sector (34.1%), Financial and insurance activities (32.7%) and Administrative and support service activities at 32.3%. The Construction sector had the largest male representation at 90.3% of board members, followed by Industry (76.7%) and Wholesale and Retail Trade (76.2%).
Female representation of Board Chairpersons in large enterprises in Ireland decreased to 17.8% in 2025 from 18.7% in 2023. For appointed Chairpersons who were on the board for less than one year in 2025, 17.9% were female and 82.1% were male, compared with 44.0% female and 56.0% male in 2023. More than three in ten (30.9%) of Chairpersons who were on the board for 1-2 years in 2025 were female, while over one-fifth (20.3%) were on the board for 3-4 years. For appointed Chairpersons who were on the board for more than five years in 2025, the percentage of male appointees was 85.9%.
| X-axis label | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 1 year (2021) | 79.2 | 20.8 |
| Less than 1 year (2023) | 56 | 44 |
| Less than 1 year (2025) | 82.1 | 17.9 |
| 1-2 years (2021) | 73.3 | 26.7 |
| 1-2 years (2023) | 73.2 | 26.8 |
| 1-2 years (2025) | 69.1 | 30.9 |
| 3-4 years (2021) | 86.7 | 13.3 |
| 3-4 years (2023) | 76.2 | 23.8 |
| 3-4 years (2025) | 79.7 | 20.3 |
| 5 or more years (2021) | 89 | 11 |
| 5 or more years (2023) | 86.6 | 13.4 |
| 5 or more years (2025) | 85.9 | 14.1 |
In Irish-owned enterprises, the proportion of female Chairpersons decreased from 14.5% in 2023 to 13.6% in 2025, compared with a decrease in foreign-owned enterprises from 21.2% in 2023 to 20.6% in 2025.
| Male | Female | |
| Irish-owned (2021) | 86.71 | 13.29 |
| Foreign-owned (2021) | 85.46 | 14.54 |
| Irish-owned (2023) | 85.5 | 14.5 |
| Foreign-owned (2023) | 78.9 | 21.2 |
| Irish-owned (2025) | 86.4 | 13.6 |
| Foreign-owned (2025) | 79.5 | 20.6 |
In 2025, 28.1% of enterprises had at least 40% female representation on their Boards of Directors compared with 24.7% in 2023 and 18.4% in 2021. In 2025, 34.3% of Service enterprises had met this target compared with 21.1% of enterprises in the Industry & Construction sectors and 19.7% of enterprises in the Wholesale and retail trade sector.
In 2025, 36.6% of enterprises had 40% or more female representation at Senior Executive level. The Services sector had the highest proportion of enterprises with this level of female representation with 44.4%, while 34.3% of Wholesale and retail trade firms had 40% or more female representation. In the Industry & Construction sectors, 23.3% of enterprises had 40% or more female representation in executive management.
| X-axis label | At least 40% female Senior Executives | At least 40% female Board of Directors |
|---|---|---|
| Industry (B to E) & Construction (F) | 23.3 | 21.1 |
| Wholesale and retail trade (G) | 34.3 | 19.7 |
| Services (H to S, excl. O, P and Q) | 44.4 | 34.3 |
| All sectors | 36.6 | 28.1 |
One-third (33.3%) of enterprises indicated that they had set targets for female representation at Senior Executive level. Of those enterprises that had set targets, 71.8% indicated that the achievement of targets was a performance goal of Senior Executives. Most enterprises (86.3%) set targets for the enterprise as a whole, while 13.7% set targets for each business function.
| % of enterprises | |
| Industry (B to E) & Construction (F) | 36.4 |
| Wholesale and retail trade (G) | 27.3 |
| Services (H to S, excl. O, P and Q) | 33.3 |
| All sectors | 33.3 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (17 October 2025) published Gender Balance in Business 2025. The Gender Balance in Business Survey provides statistics on gender representation in top management teams and Boards of Directors in Ireland. This is the fourth iteration of the biennial survey which began in 2019. Large enterprises (250 or more employees) were asked to provide information on the members of both their Senior Executive team and Board of Directors on 01 January 2025. Almost 900 enterprises were surveyed online, of which 64% completed the survey.
Commenting on the release, Bríd Fitzpatrick, Statistician in the Integration & Structural Outputs Division, said: “Today’s results show that Irish businesses continue to increase female representation at Senior Executive and Board level.
In 2025, almost a third (32.3%) of Senior Executives in Ireland were female, up from 30.4% in 2023. Almost 28% of Boards of Directors members in Ireland in 2025 were female, rising from almost 25% in 2023. There was a slight increase at Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) level where 19.2% were female in 2025 compared with 19.0% in 2023. There were further increases in the percentage of female Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) growing to 27.7% in 2025 from 25.7% in 2023. However, during the same period female representation among Chairpersons fell slightly from 18.7% to 17.8%.
Although the Construction sector at 15.2% had the lowest level of female representation in Senior Executive roles in 2025, it has risen from 13.4% in 2023 and 9.5% in 2021.
An increase of 3.4% can be seen within enterprises who had at least 40% female representation at Board level in Ireland, rising from 24.7% in 2023 to 28.1% in 2025. Similarly, increases can be seen at Senior Executive level where 40% female representation rose from 29.4% in 2023 to 36.6% in 2025. A third (33.3%) of enterprises indicated they had set targets for female representation at Senior Executive level in 2025.”