Overview

• The share of women on supervisory boards dipped from 37.3 percent to 37.0 percent in May 2025, marking the first decline since the 2015 quota law took effect.
• Female representation on executive boards rose only marginally to 19.9 percent, reflecting a pronounced slowdown in new appointments.
• Seventy listed companies currently have no women on their executive boards and Südzucker remains the sole firm with an all-male leadership team under the 2022 participation rule.
• Companies bound by the supervisory board quota average 38.6 percent female membership, outpacing the 34.1 percent among non-covered firms.
• Policy advocates including Initiative Fidar call for boosting the supervisory board quota to 40 percent and extending both boardroom requirements to all large and listed companies.