Progress of Women on BoardS
As at 31 Dec 2024
As at 31 Dec 2024
As at 31 Dec 2024
All sectors have met voluntary targets introduced by the Council for Board Diversity, end-2024 data shows.
- Diversity of Top 100 Companies primary-listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has climbed to 25.3% women on boards from 23.7% in end-2023 – a notable achievement. But with board appointments and cessations at an interim stage, we should wait for the final tally at the end of the year to say definitively whether gender diversity has achieved its ‘25% by 2025’ target ahead of time. (The target was introduced by the Council in 2019 to encourage board gender diversity. The next stage is 30% women on boards by 2030).
- Across all SGX-listed companies, the proportion of women directors has also increased to 17.6% from 16.1% in end-2023 – the highest 6-month change since 2015, when the Council began studying data twice yearly.
- Statutory boards continue to set pace with 34.2% of their board directorships held by women, up from 32.7% in end-2023.
- Post-revision of the Charity Code of Governance, Top 100 Institutions of a Public Character continue to make diversity in-roads, with the number of women directors growing to 31.5%, up from 31% as at end-2023. In aggregate, all IPCs have reached 34.1%.
Board gender diversity has progressed strongly across SGX-listed companies, statutory boards and Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) over the last six years, with the proportion of women directors rising to the highest on record. All three sectors have also met voluntary targets introduced by the Council to encourage organisations on their board diversity journey. Statutory boards and Top 100 IPCs lead the way, at 34.3% and 31.8% respectively, as at end-Dec 2024, an 11-percentage point increase and 4-percentage point increase from end-2018. With a proportion of women on boards at 25.1% as at end-Dec 2024, Top 100 SGX-listed companies have newly crossed the interim target of 25% by end-2025 a year ahead of schedule. This is a 10-percentage point increase from end-2018.
Full details in the Singapore Board Diversity Review 2025, to be published in Q2 2025.
