June 11, 2023

83 Women Entrepreneur Statistics [2022]

Statistics

Inc.’s list of the year’s top 100 female founders is an inspiration—it includes women of all stripes and covers most industries, from health services and software to food and beverage and education. The steady increase in women-owned businesses is good news not just for women, but for all the people they employ as well. (Not to mention their investors, who tend to see great returns.) Unfortunately, however, women who want to start a business tend to face a significant number of challenges. The good news is that awareness of these obstacles is increasing, and an astonishing number of resources are springing up to help women achieve their goals. To learn more about the current landscape of female entrepreneurship—and begin to understand the complexities associated with this endeavor—take a look at the women entrepreneur statistics below. Some of the facts around today’s female entrepreneurs might surprise you!

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83 Fascinating Women Entrepreneur Statistics

Growth Statistics

The number of women-run businesses has been climbing in recent years, as evidenced by the below female entrepreneur stats. Women Entrepreneur Growth Statistics

Between 2014 and 2019, the number of women-owned businesses increased 21%, while all businesses increased only 9%. (Memphis Is A Top Town For Female Entrepreneurs, 2020)
Latina women-owned businesses grew more than 87% between 2007 and 2012. (Memphis Is A Top Town For Female Entrepreneurs, 2020)
The number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. increased for 31 out of 46 years, between 1972 and 2018, growing from 402,000 to 12.3 million. (Ladies Who Lead ~ 35+ Amazing Women In Business Statistics, 2020)
Women-focused meetups increased by 60% from 2018 to 2019. (Report On Women Entrepreneurs In Europe, 2020)
Hispanic women started 31% of all women-led businesses in 2018. (23 Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2020)
The number of women-owned businesses increased by 3,000%. (23 Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2020)
There are 114% more women entrepreneurs than there were 20 years ago. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
From 2014 to 2019, the number of businesses owned by women of color increased by 43%, doubling the growth rate of women-owned businesses (21%). (Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
Of the net new women-owned businesses started per day (1,625), women of color were responsible for 89% of them. (Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
Between 2014 and 2019, the growth rate of the number of women-owned companies was 3.9% annually. This is significantly more than the growth rate of all businesses during the same time frame, which only increased 1.7% each year. (35 Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
In 1972, women-owned businesses only represented 4.6% of all businesses. In 2019 they represented 42% of all U.S. businesses. (35 Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)

Worldwide Statistics

Men still outnumber women when it comes to starting new businesses globally, but women represent the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs worldwide. Below are some intriguing statistics that illustrate this phenomenon both in the U.S. and beyond. Women Entrepreneur Worldwide Statistics

There are 252 million female entrepreneurs in the world. (25 Key Female Entrepreneurship Statistics To Know 2022, 2021)
Women own 36% of small businesses worldwide. (Women Entrepreneurs Statistics, 2021)
Internationally, women make up approximately one-third of all entrepreneurs worldwide. (12 Facts About Women-Run Businesses That Prove The Future Really Is Female, 2017)
The total global income of women will grow from $13 trillion to $18 trillion in the next five years. (Women Entrepreneurs Statistics: Equality In 2022, 2022)
40% of U.S. businesses are women-owned. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
The U.S. has 12.3 million women-owned businesses. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
U.S. women-owned businesses generate $1.8 trillion a year. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
As of 2019, 18% of all women-owned businesses in the U.S. were owned by Latinx women. (Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
California has the highest proportion of women-owned firms in the U.S., at 1.3 million. (Women Entrepreneurs Statistics, 2021)
The U.S. ranks No. 1 among 31 countries considered by Dell for support of women's entrepreneurship. (30 Surprising Facts About Female Founders, 2015)
Women launch more than 1,200 new businesses every single day in the U.S. (Women Entrepreneurs Statistics, 2021)
More than 46% of private businesses in Ghana are women-owned. (Women Entrepreneurs Statistics, 2021)
In Uganda, 38.2% of all entrepreneurs are female. (23 Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2020)
Uganda and Vietnam have high percentages of women-owned businesses too: 33.8% and 31.3%. (Ladies Who Lead - 35+ Amazing Women In Business Statistics, 2022)
15.5% of entrepreneurs in Europe are female. (Report On Women Entrepreneurs In Europe, 2020)
Over 75% of women-owned businesses in the UAE are global. (23 Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2020)
In India, most women entrepreneurs were located in Bangalore, while other metro areas, such as Chennai, Mumbai, NCR, Hyderabad, and Pune, accounted for the bulk of the rest. (Women & Entrepreneurship In India, 2021)
36.1% of immigrant business owners in Canada are women. (19 Compelling Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2021)

General Industry Statistics

The below statistics paint a picture of what the women’s entrepreneurship scene looks like today. Women Entrepreneur General Industry Statistics

During the pandemic, the percentage of women-owned businesses that laid off staff—40.6%—is about equal to the percentage of men-owned businesses overall (40.5%). However, the percentage of women-owned businesses that have laid off 80% or more of their employees is substantially greater than that of businesses overall (62.1% vs. 45.2%). (The State Of Women’S Entrepreneurship In Canada: 2020, 2020)
Women are more likely to own newer, smaller businesses, which were among those hardest-hit during the pandemic. (The State Of Women’S Entrepreneurship In Canada: 2020, 2020)
Women are majority owners of about 15.6% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with one or more employees—about 114,000 companies (2017). But women account for over 37% of self-employed Canadians or 1,050,000 (2019). (The State Of Women’s Entrepreneurship In Canada: 2020, 2020)
207,900 women-owned enterprises generated $1 million in 2018. (23 Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2020)
The average age of female entrepreneurs is 42. (23 Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2020)
Women-owned businesses employ 9.4 million people in the U.S. (23 Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2020)
Women of color founders employ 2,389,500 people, which makes up 25% of the total employment of women-owned businesses. (Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
Women-owned businesses generate an annual revenue of $1.9 trillion. (23 Women Entrepreneurs Statistics For 2022, 2020)
57.4% of the loans provided by the SBA’s Microloan program went to women-owned or women-led businesses. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics & Overview, 2020)
62% of women entrepreneurs cite their businesses as their primary source of income. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
64% of new women-owned businesses were started by women of color in 2019. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
Women of color make up 50% of all women-owned businesses as of 2019. (Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
Women-of-color-owned businesses generated 23% of total women-owned businesses’ revenue in 2019 ($422.5 billion). (Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
Women-owned businesses represent 42% of all U.S. businesses (about 13 million), have 9.4 million employees, and $1.9 trillion in revenue. But nearly 90% of women-owned businesses had no employees. Nonetheless their revenue topped $229 billion. (The State Of Women-Owned Businesses, 2021)
Women-owned businesses were awarded 5.19% of prime federal contracts in 2019, exceeding the 5% procurement goal for such businesses. (The State Of Women-Owned Businesses, 2021)
A 2019 Visa survey of female business owners found that nearly 50% of respondents would put additional funding for their company towards marketing and advertising. (35 Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
Based on Visa’s survey, 59% of respondents said their business was both brick and mortar and online. (35 Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
Women entrepreneurs are much more likely to choose to start and run small businesses in the retail and service sectors. (Women In Business Stats And Figures – A Look At Canadian Women Entrepreneurs, 2017)
The most popular industry that is female-owned and female-led is retail (16%). (25 Key Female Entrepreneurship Statistics To Know 2022, 2021)
The average female business owner has operated their company for 11 years. (35 Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
The highest number of female entrepreneurs are between the ages of 40 and 44. (Female Entrepreneurship: In-Depth Case Study [2022], 2021)
A significant chunk (58%) of entrepreneurs started their businesses between the ages of 20 and 30. Interestingly, 25% started even before turning 25—probably before even holding a job or a very short time after having held their first job. (Women & Entrepreneurship In India, 2021)
In 2021, 31% of current and aspiring entrepreneurs are women. (25 Key Female Entrepreneurship Statistics To Know 2022, 2021)
A flexible work schedule is a greater motivator for women planning to become entrepreneurs (63%) than for men (51%). (Women In Business Stats And Figures – A Look At Canadian Women Entrepreneurs, 2017)
Latina/Hispanic women represent 18% of all women-owned businesses and entrepreneurship as of 2019. (37 Encouraging Women-Owned Business And Entrepreneurship Statistics, 2022)
Around 8.1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. (21 Female Entrepreneurship Statistics That Prove You Can Do It Too, 2022)

Success-related Statistics

A Boston Consulting Group analysis found that women who run their own businesses generate 10% more revenue in five years than men do—and that’s just one example of the successes women are scoring in the area of entrepreneurship. The below facts about female entrepreneurs and their businesses provide even more context around their story. Women Entrepreneur Success-related Statistics

Nearly 9 million Americans are employed by women-owned businesses. If you include the firms that are co-owned equally by men and women, the percentage of total U.S. employment jumps to 14%. (Memphis Is A Top Town For Female Entrepreneurs, 2020)
Today there are approximately 13 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. (compared to 402,000 women-owned businesses in 1972). (Memphis Is A Top Town For Female Entrepreneurs, 2020)
Women have a 69.5% success rate of crowdfunding for their businesses while men have a 61.4% success rate. (Memphis Is A Top Town For Female Entrepreneurs, 2020)
Women-owned businesses are growing at a rate of 5%—more than twice as fast as the growth rate of all other firms. (Memphis Is A Top Town For Female Entrepreneurs, 2020)
From 2014-2019, total employment by women-owned businesses rose 8%, while for all businesses the increase was far lower, at 1.8%. (AMEX’s The State Of Women-Owned Businesses Report, 2019)
Total revenue for women-owned businesses also rose slightly above all businesses: 21% compared to 20% respectively. (The State Of Women Entrepreneurs, 2020)
Private tech companies led by women achieve 35% higher ROI. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
Women-founded companies in First Round Capital’s portfolio outperformed companies founded by men by 63%. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
Organizations that prefer women in leadership roles achieve 90% retention rates. (Women In Business Statistics, 2022)
Women entrepreneurs in the United States rank their happiness at nearly three times that of women who are not entrepreneurs or established business owners. (30 Surprising Facts About Female Founders, 2017)

Statistics On The Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs

Women-owned businesses are experiencing success, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still challenges to overcome. Some women still struggle to be taken seriously; they also find it difficult to blaze their own path in a male-dominated area. Below are some illuminating statistics regarding specific challenges as they relate to financing and growth. Women Entrepreneur Challenges Statistics

Women Entrepreneur Challenges Statistics

Just 25% of women business owners seek business financing. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics And Overview, 2020)
Women are less likely to seek and receive financing than men (32.6% vs. 38%). (The State Of Women’s Entrepreneurship In Canada: 2020, 2020)
35% of female business founders still face gender bias when raising their business capital. (Mind The Gap – How Today’s Female Entrepreneurs Are Tackling Gender Inequality, 2021)
Woman-led businesses receive less venture capital. One reason may be that only 9% of VCs are women. (Ladies Who Lead ~ 35+ Amazing Women In Business Statistics, 2020)
Women receive just 7% of venture funds for their startups. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics & Overview, 2020)
Female entrepreneurs ask for roughly $35,000 less in business financing than men. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics & Overview, 2020)
More than 57% of microloans go to women entrepreneurs, but female founders received only 2.2% of venture capital dollars in 2018. (The State Of Women-Owned Businesses, 2021)
Overall, men receive an average loan size of $43,916 while women receive an average loan size of $38,942—almost $5,000 less. (Women-Owned Businesses: Statistics & Overview, 2020)
Women who own small businesses are 43% more likely than men to be concerned that having limited access to money will affect their companies. (Ladies Who Lead ~ 35+ Amazing Women In Business Statistics, 2020)
Women couldn’t independently take out a business loan without a man until 1988. (37 Encouraging Women-Owned Business And Entrepreneurship Statistics, 2022)
Women entrepreneurs are more likely to be in services, social, health and beauty, and food sectors than in manufacturing and technology. (The State Of Women’s Entrepreneurship In Canada: 2020, 2020)
Women create only 3% of tech startups. (Female Entrepreneurs Gaining Ground, 2017)
Women-owned businesses are concentrated in low-grow industries (e.g., child day care, private households, beauty salon, home healthcare services). They represent only 16.4% of businesses providing professional, scientific, and technical services. (The State Of Women-Owned Businesses, 2021)
Despite contributing enormously to the economy, women-owned firms received only 4.75% of federal contracts in 2018. (35 Women-Owned Business Statistics You Need To Know In 2021, 2021)
88% of women-owned businesses generate less than $100,000 in annual revenue. (Ladies Who Lead - 35+ Amazing Women In Business Statistics, 2022)
24% of women say marketing issues are their biggest challenges. (21 Female Entrepreneurship Statistics That Prove You Can Do It Too, 2022)
30% of female business owners have owned their company for more than 10 years. (21 Female Entrepreneurship Statistics That Prove You Can Do It Too, 2022)
Virtually equal numbers of male and female entrepreneurs listed their three main startup challenges as finding clients, keeping a steady workload, and working long hours. (Women In Business Stats And Figures – A Look At Canadian Women Entrepreneurs, 2017)

Resources For Women Entrepreneurs

Female entrepreneurs need all the help they can get when it comes to running a business. Below are some resources you might find helpful if you’re exploring the possibility of starting a new venture yourself, or if you’re an existing business owner struggling to keep up with the demands of operating a successful company.

Training & Mentoring:

Association of Women’s Business Centers
Women’s Startup Lab
Ellevate
Cherie Blair’s Mentoring Women In Business (for women in low and middle income countries)
American Business Women’s Association
Female Founder Collective
Women Who Startup

Funding-related Resources:

IFundWomen
Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (for entrepreneurs in developing economies)
EnrichHER
All Raise
Female Founders Fund
Women’s Venture Fund
GingerBread Capital

Business Operations Resources:

Female Founder Space—Practical, online courses to help develop your business, including marketing-related courses
Fresh Scribes—Downloadable time-saving templates for creating lead magnets for your business
Driven Female Entrepreneur Podcast—Interviews with and advice from successful entrepreneurs
Ladies Who Launch—Business plan templates and examples
Bplans—Everything you need to know about business planning; includes sample plans and articles
She Owns It—Informative blog on various aspects of running a business, including social media, finances, and marketing
Hatch Tribe—Free training courses for entrepreneurs