UAE Leads GCC in Women’s Representation on Public Company Boards

The United Arab Emirates has emerged as the leading Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country in terms of female representation on public company boards, according to the latest edition of the GCC Board Gender Index.

As of January 2025, women hold 14.8% of board seats in the UAE, occupying 185 out of 1,248 positions. This figure marks a significant 37% increase from the previous year, when women held 10.8% of board positions, and represents a more than fourfold increase since 2020, when the figure stood at just 3.5%.

The GCC Board Gender Index, a joint initiative between Heriot-Watt University and Aurora50, tracks annual trends in boardroom gender diversity across the region. The latest data shows that the UAE has made the most notable progress, attributed in the report to coordinated national and institutional efforts aimed at achieving gender balance in corporate governance.

Across the GCC as a whole, female board participation has nearly doubled over the past year, rising from 5.2% in 2024 to 6.8% in early 2025. While the UAE leads with 14.8%, other countries report lower but improving figures: Bahrain stands at 8.5%, Oman at 6.6%, Kuwait at 5.5%, Saudi Arabia at 2.9%, and Qatar at 2.8%.