Australia Second Worldwide for Female Entrepreneurship

Australia ranks second worldwide in its support of female entrepreneurs, edged out by the United States but placed ahead of the UK.

The 2015 Female Entrepreneurship Index (FEI) by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute revealed that globally, female business owners were on average more educated and more growth oriented than the previous year.

The Index found that the percentage of female entrepreneurs who were highly educated had increased 9 per cent, and the percentage of “business gazelles” – those who intend to grow their businesses by 50 per cent and employ 10 people within 5 years – among female entrepreneurs has increased 7 per cent.

However, the Index revealed female business innovativeness had decreased 13 per cent and the percentage of female businesses that are in the tech sector had decreased 19 per cent.

Now in its third year, the Index measures high potential female entrepreneurship by analysing entrepreneurial ecosystems, business environments, and individual aspirations across 77 developed and developing economies spanning multiple regions.  

47 of 77 nations still scored below 50 points – an indication that these countries must pursue significant changes in order to reduce barriers for female entrepreneurs, according to the report.

Malawi, Pakistan and Bangladesh were the lowest ranked countries overall.

Chile, Australia, and the United States were highlighted in the report as countries that stood out for having particularly good conditions for female entrepreneurs relative to their per capita GDP.

The analysis also revealed opportunities for improvement within several geographic regions.

• Europe can improve Opportunity Recognition – whether women recognise good opportunities to start a business in the area where they live

• Latin America can improve Export Focus – female entrepreneurs that have at least some customers outside the country

• Sub-Saharan Africa can improve Access to Finance – women’s access to bank accounts and financial training programs

• East Asia can improve Skill Perception – whether women believe they have the required knowledge and skills to start a business

”The Female Entrepreneurship Index is an excellent tool to benchmark countries’ entrepreneurial ecosystems for high potential female entrepreneurship,”  FEI Project Director Dr Dr. Siri Terjesen said.  

“We can clearly see that countries with greater levels of economic freedom have greater levels of high-potential female entrepreneurs.”

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