The line graph illustrates the changes in the percentage of female members of parliament in five European countries over the period from 2000 to 2012, at 4-year intervals, measured in %.
Overall, an upward trend can be observed throughout the period, except for Spain. While Belgium consistently remained one of the leading categories and experienced the most dramatic growth and eventually overtook Spain. By contrast, Italy remained the lowest throughout the timeframe, but had the fastest increase.
In 2000, Germany emerged as the leading category, standing at about 31%, while Spain and Belgium followed at 27% and 23% respectively. By comparison, the figures for Italy and UK were far less significant, at approximately 3% and 17%. However, the subsequent years witnessed significant changes. While Germany increased steadily and reached around 33% by 2012, Spain rose sharply to become the leader in 2004 before fluctuated slightly and stabilized at 35%. Belgium also increased dramatically and overtook Spain after 2008, reaching the highest point of about 38% by 2012.
In contrast to the trends observed in Germany, Spain and Belgium, Italy followed a very different pattern throughout the timeframe. Although starting from a relatively low base, Italy experienced substantial growth, eventually overtaking UK by 2008 and then remained stable at 23%. The UK, on the other hand, remained comparatively stable in the first 4 years, and then increased gradually to about 23% by the end of the period.
By the end of the timeframe, Belgium had consolidated its position as the dominant category at approximately 38%, whereas Italy and UK were the lowest, standing at only around 23%.