Women entrepreneurs statistics show that 252 million entrepreneurs out of approximately 582 million in the world are female. Added to 153 million women who have already been running businesses, we can see the impact of women on business.
Research also shows that women now account for 41% of the global workforce and control more than $20 trillion in annual spending. Predictions are that this number will go up to $28 trillion in the next few years.
Ready for some more interesting stats and facts about women in business?
Key Female Entrepreneurship Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- 22.4% of small business owners in the US are women.
- 17% of black women are in the process of starting or running a new business.
- The female entrepreneurial activity rate in the US is 13.6%.
- 14% of women-owned businesses employ between 11 and 50+ workers.
- Women represent 50% of entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Women made up 36.8% of Canadian business owners in 2021.
- South Asia has less than 20% of female entrepreneurs.
- Women-owned and controlled enterprises create direct employment for about 27 million people in India.
Women in Business Statistics
1. Women first started to run their businesses in 1972.
(AEO Works)
This year was crucial for women because it was mentioned in the US Census Bureau as the year related to female entrepreneurship. The almost 50-year-old fight made a remarkable impact on the economy across the globe.
At that time, there were over 400,000 businesses owned by women in the US. Today, there are more than 13 million women-owned businesses in America and counting. What’s more, women in America start 1,817 businesses every day.
2. Female entrepreneurship statistics for 2022 show that women make up only 22.4% of all small business owners in the US.
(Guidant Financial)
According to the Small Business Trends survey results, 23.7% of women have owned their business for more than 10 years. Moreover, 49.1% of the respondents say that their businesses have been open for five years or less.
3. Women entrepreneurs statistics show that over 65% of the most recent allocations will benefit women entrepreneurs in low-income countries.
(We-fi)
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative has allocated $49.3 million to help over 15,000 women-led businesses. The funding is also expected to mobilize about $350 million of additional public and private sector resources.
Programs backing women-led businesses will soon expand to 61 countries due to three financing rounds that now total almost $300 million in allocations.
4. Women-owned businesses statistics show that 17% of black women are in the process of starting or running new businesses.
(HBR, CNBC)
Studies show that black women are starting businesses faster than any other racial group. Moreover, an astounding number of black women are in the process of starting or running new businesses in the United States.
To put things into perspective, only 10% of white women and 15% of white men are starting or running new businesses.
5. 3% of black women are running mature businesses.
(HBR)
Facts about women entrepreneurs reveal that black women are less likely to own mature businesses. Despite starting businesses at a high rate, these women run a pretty small percentage of mature businesses. This data hints at potential issues women of color have when sustaining a business.
6. The female entrepreneurial activity rate in the US is 13.6% of the total female working-age population.
(Mastercard)
According to the latest woman-owned business statistics, the female entrepreneurial rate has dropped by 3% from 2020, returning to the same figure from 2019.
However, the percentage of female business ownership increased to 35.6% in 2021, up by 2% from the previous year. Furthermore, the total number of women business leaders has risen from 39.8% to 41%.
7. Male vs. female entrepreneurs statistics show that only 4 out of 47 economies report higher TEA rates for women than for men.
(Babson College)
The four economies in which the total entrepreneurial activity rates are higher for women than for men are Morocco, Kazakhstan, Spain, and Dominican Republic. Moreover, there are five other economies where one woman is starting a new business for every two men (Norway, Egypt, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates, and Japan).
8. Women in business statistics reveal that the Islamic Development Bank received $11.25 million for supporting women in West Africa engaged in entrepreneurial activities in the rice value chain.
(We-fi)
Women in West Africa are heavily engaged in the rice industry. However, the high cost of borrowing and other non-financial constraints prevent women entrepreneurs from improving their businesses.
This program will support upgrading and advancing women-owned SMEs within the rice value chain in West Africa. It’s supposed to help female employers through capacity development, grant matching, and increased access to local and regional markets.
9. Female entrepreneurship statistics imply that 14% of women-owned businesses employ between 11 and 50+ workers.
(Guidant Financial)
Entrepreneur statistics show that women-owned businesses have been slowly expanding. Luckily, these businesses need more employees, so the unemployment rate decreases. Moreover, the large majority of women business owners employ at least one person other than themselves.
As much as 46% of such businesses have 2–5 workers. Another 19% employ between 6 and 10 people. Furthermore, the business owner is the only employee in 20% of cases, which signals a significant improvement compared to last year (32%).
10. 59.2% of women-owned businesses are profitable in 2022.
(Guidant Financial)
Women entrepreneurs statistics reveal that 59% of female-owned businesses in the USA today are profitable. It’s also interesting that the number of women believing that their business wouldn’t survive the pandemic dropped from 4% to 2.7%.
Still, there is some road to cover. According to Guidant, the number of female business owners shrank from 31% in 2021 to 22.4% in 2022.
11. The latest stats for women entrepreneurs report that 14% of 595 unicorns in 2021 had female founders or co-founders.
(Crunchbase)
A startup that made more than $1 billion is called a unicorn. Recent data shows that there were 83 new unicorn companies in 2021, which is more than four times higher than the previous year. Out of 100 unicorns in 2022, 10 were co-founded by at least one woman.
However, not all unicorn companies stay private: the latest data shows that 19 out of 124 total unicorns that went public in 2021 had at least one woman co-founder.
Entrepreneur Stats About Women Across the Globe
12. Women represent 50% of entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
(MDPI)
The share of female entrepreneurs worldwide varies considerably across regions. Moreover, it’s constantly below the percentage of male entrepreneurs. Yet, in some parts of the world, this gap is smaller than in some others.
Latin America and the Caribbean region are examples of the closest parity situation in the number of male and female entrepreneurs.
13. The European average of women entrepreneurs is 31%.
(MDPI)
Women-owned businesses statistics suggest that female entrepreneurs in Europe comprise a minority. Despite the fact that women make up 51% of the European population, not many decide to start their own businesses and become one of the 16 million self-employed workers.
In fact, only 39.4% of the self-employed and 30% of startup entrepreneurs in Europe are women.
14. Women business leaders from New Zealand rank second on the MIWE chart.
(Mastercard)
Women in New Zealand have favorable entrepreneurial supporting conditions. So, it’s no wonder these women have retained their strong lead on the MIWE chart with a 69.8 score. In fact, women entrepreneurs facts single out New Zealand for its attitude to female entrepreneurs.
They thrive thanks to the access to resources for starting a business and extensive and established distribution channels, business networks, and international economies. In addition, a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem provided by the government makes things easier for women business owners.
15. In 2021, women made up 36.8% of business owners in Canada.
(WEKH)
The percentage of female entrepreneurs in Canada was 36.8% in 2021, translating to 982,600 women. This represents a notable drop from 2019 when there were 1,065,200 female entrepreneurs (37.2%). These figures include both women who own small and medium-sized enterprises and those who are self-employed.
16. Women in India own 20.37% of enterprises.
(MSME)
Women own barely a fifth of micro, small, and medium businesses in India. Furthermore, they have more enterprises in rural than urban parts of the country. In addition, most female entrepreneurs own micro-businesses (20.44%), while only 5.26% of small and 2.67% of medium-sized businesses are led by women. Based on these numbers, it’s obvious that female entrepreneurship in India is not that developed.
17. Women entrepreneurs statistics show us that South Asia has less than 20% of female entrepreneurs.
(MDPI)
The share of small, medium, and large firms with a woman as a principal owner is pretty low in South Asia. Simultaneously, South Asia is the region with the lowest share of women entrepreneurs.
On the other hand, in East Asia and the Pacific, nearly half of the business owners are women. The implication is that this region has a more friendly business climate toward women’s entrepreneurship than South Asia.
Women Business Owner Statistics — Job Creation and Employment
18. Women-owned and controlled enterprises create direct employment for about 27 million people in India.
(Mint)
The latest estimations say that women own 16 million enterprises in India. This number translates to 20% of all enterprises, providing jobs for 27 million people. The Women Entrepreneurship in India report also suggests that women entrepreneurs can create 150–170 million jobs by 2030. The only condition is to enable female entrepreneurs to start up and scale.
19. 67% of female entrepreneurs in South Africa create jobs within the first year of business life, according to women in business stats.
(Lionesses of Africa & New York University)
Recent hiring stats reveal that 90% of women entrepreneurs had job creation in mind at the beginning of their business journey. Apparently, most of these entrepreneurs create new job opportunities within the first year of business life.
20. Women-owned businesses employ 9.4 million workers and generate revenue of $1.9 trillion.
(NWBC, Acumen Connections)
An annual report on the state of women-owned businesses reveals that they fuel the American economy. Surprisingly, women-owned businesses make up 42% of all businesses in the US. The findings also imply that these women are of diverse ethnic and geographic backgrounds.
Women Entrepreneur Facts — Conclusion
Women have made an enormous effort to be present on the map of success in entrepreneurship in the last century. The impact is significant, but they can do much more. For example, women have shown a higher company success rate, but they take fewer risks.
Famous men and women tend to think that the way we perceive entrepreneurs needs to change. We should never think of CEOs as men or women, as both are equally capable. When people become familiar with this thought, the world of entrepreneurship might be better for both of them.