The following table shows the world record progression in the women's 20 kilometres walk, as recognised by the IAAF.
World record progression
| Time | Athlete | Date | Place | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:24:00 |
 Antonie Briksová (TCH)
|
1931-09-06 | Prague, Czechoslovakia | |
| 2:14:07 |
Antonie Odvárková (TCH)
|
1931-09-14 | Prague, Czechoslovakia | |
| 1:59:02 |
 Lina Aebersold (SUI)
|
1934-06-09 | Zürich, Switzerland | |
| 1:57:35 |
 Marie van Tonder (RSA)
|
1962-07-28 | Cape Town, South Africa | |
| 1:57:26 |
 Irma Hansson (SWE)
|
1963-10-27 | Copenhagen, Denmark | |
| 1:54:30 |
Irma Hansson (SWE)
|
1967-10-22 | Copenhagen, Denmark | |
| 1:53:46 |
 Karin Møller (DEN)
|
1968-10-27 | Copenhagen, Denmark | |
| 1:51:05 |
Irma Hansson (SWE)
|
1969-10-12 | Copenhagen, Denmark | |
| 1:47:10 |
Margareta Simu (SWE)
|
1973-09-22 | Copenhagen, Denmark | |
| 1:43:38 |
 Lilian Harpur (AUS)
|
1977-07-16 | Adelaide, Australia | |
| 1:43:20 |
 Thorill Gylder (NOR)
|
1978-04-23 | Mixhuca, Mexico | |
| 1:41:42 |
Susan Cook (AUS)
|
1980-02-03 | Melbourne, Australia | |
| 1:39:31 |
Susan Cook (AUS)
|
1981-12-20 | Melbourne, Australia | |
| 1:36:36 |
Susan Cook (AUS)
|
1982-12-19 | Melbourne, Australia | |
| 1:36:23 |
Susan Cook (AUS)
|
1984-07-07 | Canberra, Australia | |
| 1:36:19 |
Sally Pierson (AUS)
|
1984-07-17 | Melbourne, Australia | |
| 1:29:40 |
Kerry Saxby-Junna (AUS)
|
1988-05-13 | Vårname, Sweden | |
| 1:27:30 |
 Liu Hongyu (CHN)
|
1995-05-01 | Beijing, China | |
| 1:27:30 |
 Nadezhda Ryashkina (RUS)
|
1999-02-07 | Adler, Russia | |
| 1:26:22 |
Wang Yan (CHN)
|
2001-11-19 | Guangzhou, China | |
| 1:25:41 |
Olimpiada Ivanova (RUS)
|
2005-08-07 | Helsinki, Finland | |
| 1:25:08 |
Vera Sokolova (RUS)
|
2011-02-26 | Sochi, Russia | |
| 1:25:02 |
Elena Lashmanova (RUS)
|
2012-08-11 | London, England | |
| 1:24:47 |
Elmira Alembekova (RUS)
|
2015-02-27 | Sochi, Russia | |
| 1:24:38 |
Liu Hong (CHN)
|
2015-06-06 | A Coruña, Spain | |
| 1:23:49 |
Yang Jiayu (CHN)
|
2021-03-20 | Huangshan |