Friday’s “family photo” at the G20 summit in Argentina marked an inauspicious moment: there were fewer female heads-of-government posing than in any of the previous gatherings of the group.
That was due in part to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s absence (her plane had mechanical issues getting to Argentina and she did not arrive in time for the photo). But it also spoke to the lower number of female leaders among the industrialized nations that make up the G20, which began holding leaders summits in 2008.
Even had Merkel been there, there would have been only two female country leaders — Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May — plus the International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde. That would have amounted to the lowest number since 2010. The most leaders present was five, which happened in 2012 and 2013.
Here’s a look at which female leaders participated in past G20 photos:
- 2018 — 2 (British Prime Minister May, IMF managing director Lagarde)
- 2017 — 4 (German Chancellor Angela Merkel, May, Lagarde, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg)
- 2016 — 4 (Merkel, May, Lagarde, South Korea President Park Geun-hye)
- 2015 — 4 (Merkel, Lagarde, Park, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff)
- 2014 — 4 (Merkel, Lagarde, Park, Rousseff)
- 2013 — 5 (Merkel, Lagarde, Park, Rousseff, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner)
- 2012 — 5 (Merkel, Lagarde, Rousseff, Kirchner, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard)
- 2011 — 4 (Merkel, Lagarde, Rousseff, Kirchner, Gillard)
- 2010 — 3 (Merkel, Gillard, Kirchner)
- 2009 — 2 (Merkel, Kirchner)
- 2008 — 2 (Merkel, Kirchner)
