Women Entrepreneurs in the EU

An outlook into policy frameworks towards building a more thriving environment for women entrepreneurs

The ‘problem’: The Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship

Women entrepreneurship in the EU is dynamic and increasingly influential. Despite facing historical barriers and persistent gender inequalities, women entrepreneurs are increasingly present, driving innovation, and contributing to economic growth across diverse industries. Nonetheless, differences between women and men entrepreneurs still exist: The gender gap remains still around 7 percentage points across EU Member States and has decreased only by 1.5 percentage points in the past ten years.

This report, Women Entrepreneurs in the EU. An Outlook into Policy Frameworks Towards Building a More Thriving Environment for Women Entrepreneurs, looks into the current environment for women entrepreneurship, highlighting obstacles and best practices from across the EU to outline the wide range of initiatives being undertaken to support women who want to start a new business or those who have already founded one.

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Women as a group are generally disproportionately absent from all stages of entrepreneurship

According to the latest OECD & European Commission data, women account for about 75% of missing entrepreneurs, ranging from 50% or slightly more in some member states such as Spain and Croatia to virtually 100% in others, such as Italy, Cyprus, Greece and Ireland. The OECD has calculated that if women participated in early-stage entrepreneurship at the same rate as 30-49-year-old men, there would be 5.5 million more women entrepreneurs in the EU.

While in recent years there have improvements in women entrepreneurship, differences remain between men and women pursuing a business – leading to a sustained gender gap in entrepreneurship.”

Research in the UK and Canada has calculated the positive economic impact on GDP that could result from closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship.

In Canada closing the gender gap by 2026 could lead to 6% more growth than predicted, while researchers in the UK estimated that women starting and scaling businesses to the same rate as men could add around 12% of GPD in a year.

Boosting Women’s Entrepreneurship: Inclusive Policies for Women

Strong policy frameworks play a vital role in setting priorities, allocating resources for implementation, supporting women’s entrepreneurship organizations and networks, and driving further research in this area.

Closing the gender gap in the entrepreneurship should start by understanding where the underlying differences stem from and improving the overall entrepreneurial environment for women. While access to finance, regulatory hurdles, and market competition are common barriers for all entrepreneurs, women frequently encounter additional difficulties such as gender bias, limited access to networks, and a lack of targeted support structures. Closing on these areas could be the first step towards creating a flourishing environment for women-led business.