The GCC Board Gender Index Report 2025: Women hold 6.8% of GCC board seats

For the second year running, Heriot-Watt University and Aurora50 present the only comprehensive and GCC-wide index of board directors for companies listed on all local stock exchanges.

[Download the report (PDF) for free by filling in a simple Aurora50 form.]

Overall, the GCC has seen the percentage of board positions held by women rise, from 5.2 percent in 2024 to 6.8 percent in 2025. This shows positive growth of nearly a third (30.8 percent) year on year.

Promisingly, the number of women on listed company boards shows double-digit growth in every country across the GCC this year.

UAE leads the region

The UAE again leads the region, as it did in 2024, with 14.8 percent of listed company board seats held by women compared to 10.8 percent last year.

Bahrain has moved up to second position in the GCC, ahead of Oman, this year. At Bahraini listed companies, 8.5 percent of board seats are held by women, compared to 6.6 percent in Oman.

Percentage of board positions held by women at listed companies across the GCC in 2025, by country:

1. UAE: 14.8% (185 of 1,248 seats)
2. Bahrain: 8.5% (30 of 353 seats)
3. Oman: 6.6% (56 of 849 seats)
4. Kuwait: 5.5% (52 of 946 seats)
5. Saudi Arabia: 2.9% (53 of 1,809 seats)
6. Qatar: 2.8% (13 of 459 seats)

‘Advancing gender balance’ – HH Sheikha Shamma

HH Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Director of Aurora50, says: “When Aurora50 launched in 2020 with its vision of gender parity on corporate boards, only 3.5 percent of UAE board seats were held by women. As we mark our fifth anniversary, it is promising to see that figure rise over fourfold (to 14.8%) and to almost 7% across the region, highlighting the impact of our collective efforts.

“Tracking this progress – as the GCC Board Gender Index does – is key to creating, and bolstering, a strong pipeline of female talent at every level. Our second report with Heriot-Watt University Dubai helps advance gender balance not just in the UAE, but across the GCC as a whole.

“In line with the vision of the UAE’s leadership, Aurora50 is committed to paving clear paths for women to step into board positions, ensuring fundamentally diverse and balanced gender representation in our nation’s organisations. This dramatic shift in just five years reaffirms the UAE’s role as a global leader in gender balance.”

Celebrating GCC female representation on boards

The GCC Board Gender Index holds full details for over 4,600 board directors, with each company and director uniquely identified to avoid duplication – despite many companies being listed on more than one exchange and many directors serving on more than one board.

This allows us to provide a single, authoritative source of market data for scholars and other researchers, to elevate the profile of the women currently serving as directors, and to celebrate the ongoing progress of female representation on public company boards in the GCC countries

Heriot-Watt University and Aurora50 are committed to publishing this report jointly again until at least 2027.

[Download the report (PDF) for free by filling in a simple Aurora50 form.]

Pathway / مسار is Aurora50’s powerful 12-week board accelerator for busy executives: the boardroom launchpad for influential GCC women. It has been running since 2020; doors open to the next cohort in Q4 2025.

To discuss bespoke research projects or sponsoring future editions of this report, please contact us.