Developed countries, especially the U.S. and Japan, showed little to no pickup in hiring women for top positions last year. Emerging economies did much better.
By the numbers: Data from PwC shows women made up less than 5% of incoming company CEOs globally last year, off from a record high of 6% in 2017.
- The utilities industry had the largest share of women CEOs (9.5%), followed by communications services (7.5%) and financial services (7.4%).
A bright spot: This year's FORTUNE 500, released last week, had 33 women CEOs — the most ever, up from 24 in 2017.
Go deeper: 2018 saw record CEO turnover as "ethical lapses" prompted firings