GEM 2025/2026 WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP REPORT – EMBARGOED UNTIL 8 OCTOBER 2026
UNITED KINGDOM, October 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — New research based on 150,799 adults across 48 economies shows that women are participating strongly in innovation, export and job-oriented entrepreneurship, while high-potential activity falls sharply as ventures move from startup to established business.
KEY FIGURES
– 150,799 adults surveyed — GEM 2025 Adult Population Survey
– 48 economies — Included in the women’s report
– 98% lower rate — High-potential activity among women at the established-business stage compared with the early-stage rate.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) today highlights a critical gap in the entrepreneurial life cycle: women are active participants in high-potential entrepreneurship, but far fewer women remain in high-potential businesses as ventures mature.
The GEM 2025/2026 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report, How Metrics Shape the Narrative, draws on the 2025 GEM Adult Population Survey of 150,799 adults across 48 economies and introduces a composite high-potential index combining product and process innovation, export intensity and job-creation expectations.
Globally, 12% of women surveyed were running new businesses in 2025, compared with 14% of men. A little over half of new businesses qualified as high-potential ventures, and women were leading about 40% of these high-potential businesses. Women outpaced men in five countries across income levels: Chile, El Salvador, India, Israel and Oman.
The sharpest difference appears later in the entrepreneurial life cycle. Women reported a 6.0% rate of high-potential early-stage activity, compared with just 0.1% at the established-business stage — a 98% lower rate. The report argues that this pattern points to the importance of understanding survival and scale, not only startup entry.
Women are participating across high-potential indicators. Women represented 44% of entrepreneurs emphasizing digitalization, 43% of those reporting AI innovation, 42% of those reporting product and process innovation, and approximately 40% of those targeting international markets.
Investment remains another area of difference. In 2025, 6.7% of women reported recent business investment, compared with 9.2% of men, and women invested roughly one-third less capital on average. Approximately 70% of informal investment globally went to men entrepreneurs.
KEY FINDINGS
What the data shows
The report shifts attention from entrepreneurship entry alone to the full entrepreneurial life cycle — including innovation, investment, survival, scale and exit
ENTREPRENEURIAL LIFE CYCLE
– The average women-to-men ratio in established business ownership was 0.69 in 2025, the widest gender gap across the entrepreneurial life-cycle stages.
– Women were 55% more likely than men to cite family or personal circumstances as a reason for business exit (20% vs. 13%).
HIGH-POTENTIAL ACTIVITY
– Women led about 40% of high-potential new businesses globally.
– Women represented 33% of entrepreneurs expecting to create 20 or more jobs within five years and 37% expecting more than 25% of revenue from exports.
WHAT THE REPORT CALLS FOR
The report identifies six directions for policy and practice: measure what matters; support survival and scale, not only startups; expand women’s access to digital and innovation ecosystems; invest in women’s investment networks; open more sectors to high-potential entry; and address caregiving challenges directly.
AUTHORS
– Amanda Elam, Babson College, GEM Global (lead author)
– Mahsa Samsami, Chemnitz University of Technology, University of Agder, Stellenbosch University, GEM Global (data analysis)
– Fatima Boutaleb, Hassan II University of Casablanca, GEM Morocco
– Maya Dougoud, Fribourg School of Management, HEG-FR, HES-SO, GEM-GERA Board, GEM Switzerland
– Ulrike Guelich, Bangkok University School of Entrepreneurship and Management, GEM Thailand
– Natanya Meyer, University of Johannesburg, GEM South Africa
– Mónica Río Nevado de Zelaya, Francisco Marroquín University, GEM Guatemala
LAUNCH
REPORT AVAILABLE — 8 OCTOBER 2026
The GEM 2025/2026 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report, How Metrics Shape the Narrative, will be available on the GEM website from 8 October 2026.
LAUNCH WEBINAR — 15 OCTOBER 2026
GEM will host a launch webinar featuring conversations with researchers and experts exploring the report’s findings and what they mean for women’s entrepreneurship, survival and scale.
REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uiIxJXKxSS2pipqhIjSy3w
ABOUT GEM
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is a global research initiative dedicated to understanding entrepreneurship and the conditions that shape entrepreneurial activity. GEM has produced comparable entrepreneurship data for 26 years, drawing on large-scale adult population surveys and expert assessments across economies worldwide.
MEDIA CONTACT
Georgia Gut
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
ggut@gemconsortium.org
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