New research into female representation on the boards of Europe’s largest companies shows the UK has fallen from sixth to eighth place among 12 leading economies since 2011.

The UK has a below-average proportion of women compared to the other European countries in the study, at 23per cent of board positions. Norway leads the table on 39per cent.

The research was conducted by European Women on Boards, a network comprised of the Institute of Directors in the UK and similar associations in eight other countries. The report, which examined the boards of 600 large European companies between 2011 and 2015, found the percentage of women almost doubled in this period, from 14 to 25per cent.

It said the improvement across Europe made the UK’s relative position look worse, despite significant improvement since the coalition government adopted a 25per cent target for women on boards in 2011. Only Belgium and Italy have increased the proportion of female directors more than the UK in this time.

Moreover, female directors in the UK are more likely than the European average to serve on the important nomination, remuneration and audit committees. The research also commends UK firms for the quality of their reporting on board appointments.

Lady Barbara Judge, chairman of the Institute of Directors, and member of the EWoB Advisory Board, said: “A particular cause for concern is the slow progress being made in appointing more women to executive positions. Only around three per cent of the chief executives of Europe’s 600 largest companies are women, and figure that has barely moved since 2011.”