Self-employment has not yet recovered since the onset of COVID-19
Women entrepreneurs were more likely to cite COVID-19 as the reason for business closure
Half of women and youth report that it is harder to start a business now than a year ago
40% of entrepreneurs saw opportunities during the COVID crisis
Women and seniors account for the bulk of “missing” entrepreneurs
The relative number of “missing” entrepreneurs is higher in the EU than the OECD
More than half of EU Member States have strategies for supporting youth, women and the unemployed in entrepreneurship
The number of “missing” women entrepreneurs represent nearly 70% of early-stage women entrepreneurs in the EU
Gender gaps persist in early-stage entrepreneurship across the EU and OECD
Established business ownership is half as common among women relative to men
Women are more likely to be “necessity” entrepreneurs
A “fear of failure” and skills gaps are more likely to prevent women from starting a business
Women are half as likely as men to expect to achieve high employment growth
Innovation rates and activity in foreign markets by women vary greatly by country
The gender gap in self-employment closed over the last decade in the EU
Women are 40% less likely than men to be self-employed
Self-employment fell by 6% in the EU over the past decade
Self-employed women in the EU are more likely to be younger
The gender gap in the self-employment closes among those who work beyond 60 years old
Self-employed women have been less likely to have employees over the last decade
Self-employed women are less likely to be employers than self-employed men in nearly all EU Member States
The share of self-employed women who were employers declined in half of EU Member States over the past decade
Women are more likely to be self-employed than men in the Other service activities sector
The majority of self-employed women are skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers
Self-employed women entrepreneurs are pursuing higher education at a faster rate than men
Self-employed women are more highly educated than self-employed men in nearly all EU Member States
The self-employment rate among immigrants from other EU Member States is increasing slightly
Self-employment rates for immigrants varied greatly across EU Member States in 2022
The “missing” immigrant entrepreneurs represent about 5% of self-employment immigrants in the EU
Immigrant women are less likely to be self-employed compared to immigrant men
The share of immigrants among the self-employed continues to increase
More than one-third of the self-employed are immigrants in three EU Member States
About 30% of self-employed immigrants in the EU have employees
Self-employed immigrants in the EU are as likely to employ others as non-immigrants
Gender gaps are also observed among self-employed employers
Immigrants have similar self-employment rates by sector as non-immigrants
Immigrant workers are highly concentrated in service and sales
The number of “missing” youth entrepreneurs represent 12% of early-stage young entrepreneurs in the EU
Young people find both financial and non-financial supports to be useful in their business creation
About 40% of youth would prefer to be self-employed
Reasons for preferring self-employment
Young people see entrepreneurship as a way to follow their passions and interests
Youth entrepreneurs are slightly less likely than adults to start a business “out of necessity”
Youth are more likely to be early-stage entrepreneurs than the overall adult population
Few young entrepreneurs succeed in operating businesses for more than 42 months
Young entrepreneurs are more likely to rely on their own savings to start their businesses than other financing options
Youth are less likely than adults to report having entrepreneurship skills yet report similar levels of fear of failure as adults
Youth entrepreneurs are confident in the growth potential of their start-ups
About 4-in-10 youth have introduced a new product or service and have customers in another country
About 7% of youth in the EU are self-employed
There are large gaps in self-employment rates between youth and overall adult populations
Young women are 35% less likely to be self-employed than young men
There is gender parity among young self-employed workers in only 4 EU Member States
Young self-employed workers are half as likely as all to create jobs for others
The share of self-employed workers with employees varies considerably by country
Young self-employed men are 1.4 times more likely than young women to employ others
Nearly one-third of young workers in Agriculture, forest and fishing are self-employed
Self-employment among young workers is highest in Agricultural occupations
The share of people aged 65 years and over is increasing in all EU Member States
Theoretical relative pensions of the self-employed are lower than what they would have earned as an employee
Seniors are about 60% as likely as the population to be working on pre and early-stage start-ups
There are millions of “missing” senior entrepreneurs in the EU
Seniors are more likely than younger age cohorts to own an established business
Seniors are more likely to start a business because they cannot find a job
Nearly half of seniors identify a fear of failure and skills gaps as barriers to business creation
Seniors are less likely to have high-growth aspirations for their new business
Older entrepreneurs are almost as likely to innovate and export with their new businesses
Self-employment is declining faster among those over 50 years old than overall
There are substantial age and gender gaps among older self-employed workers
Seniors are more likely to be self-employed than the population average in all countries
The share of older self-employed workers with employees is increasing
The age gap among older employers is closing but gender gap persists
Older self-employed workers were more likely to have employees in 20 EU Member States
Seniors are more likely to be self-employed in all sectors
Self-employed rates for seniors are declining in all occupations except technicians and associate professionals
Few job seekers want to be self-employed
Preference for self-employment among job seekers increased in half of EU Member States
Preference for self-employment among job seekers is negatively associated with self-employment rate
Preference for self-employment declines with duration of unemployment
The number of job seekers in the EU becoming self-employed is declining but the proportion remains at 3%
One in ten job seekers who become self-employed create a job in the first year
The number of “missing” entrepreneurs with disabilities represent about 23% of self-employed with disabilities in the EU
People with disabilities are as likely to be self-employed if they are working
The self-employment rate varies greatly by gender and age
People with disabilities are less likely to self-report a preference for self-employment
Self-employment does not appear to improve the labour market position of people with disabilities
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Austria
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Belgium
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Bulgaria
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Croatia
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Cyprus
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Czech Republic
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Denmark
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Estonia
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Finland
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for France
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Germany
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Greece
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Hungary
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Ireland
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Italy
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Latvia
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Lithuania
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Luxembourg
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Malta
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for the Netherlands
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Poland
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Portugal
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Romania
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Slovak Republic
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Slovenia
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Spain
Entrepreneurship and self-employment data for Sweden