Fifty-four world economies participated in the 2017/18 GEM survey covering 67.8% of the world’s population and 86% of the world’s GDP.
Job Creation Projections
North America has the highest proportion of entrepreneurs expecting medium to high-job creation (six or more jobs in the next five years).
- The United States, in particular, stands out with 39 percent of entrepreneurs expecting to generate jobs.
- North America (30 percent) is followed by Asia and Oceania (21 percent), Europe (19 percent), and Latin America and the Caribbean (18 percent).
- Africa reports the lowest rate at 17 percent.
Innovation
The extent to which entrepreneurs are introducing products that are new to some or all customers, and that are offered by few or no competitors, increases with each economic development level:
- Factor-driven (21 percent)
- Efficiency-driven (23 percent)
- Innovation-driven (31 percent)
Regionally, innovation is highest in North America at 40 percent, and lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean at 23 percent.
Societal Values about Entrepreneurship
Nearly 70 percent of adults globally believe that entrepreneurs are well regarded and enjoy high status within their societies.
Notably, 75 percent of adults in Africa believe that entrepreneurs are admired in their societies and 76 percent consider entrepreneurship a good career choice.
Self-Perceptions about Entrepreneurship
Forty-three percent of the global population see good opportunities around them for starting a business within the next six months. North America has the highest rate of perceived opportunity at 62 percent; Africa has the lowest rate at 37 percent.
- Adults in factor-and-efficiency-driven economies report perceiving higher capabilities for starting a business than those in innovation-driven economies (53 percent versus 43 percent, respectively).
- Adults in innovation-driven economies also report having a higher fear of failure at 40.3 percent (37 percent in factor-driven and 34 percent in efficiency-driven).
- Entrepreneurial intentions range across development levels, the lowest being in innovation-driven economies (15 percent) and the highest seen in factor-driven economies (30 percent).
Phases and Types of Entrepreneurial Activity
Total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) is highest in factor-driven economies (16 percent) and lowest in innovation-driven economies (9 percent).
- Regionally, TEA rates are highest in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Africa. Just under one-fifth of working-age adults are engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity.
- TEA rates are lowest in Europe at eight percent.
Entrepreneurial employee activity (EEA) is highest in innovation-driven economies (five percent) and lowest in factor-and-efficiency-driven economies (one percent and two percent, respectively).
- EEA rates are highest in North America (eight percent), Europe (four percent), and Asia and Oceania (three percent).
- EEA rates are lowest in Africa (one percent) and in Latin America and the Caribbean (two percent).
Gender and Age Distribution of Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity
The highest average female TEA rates are seen in Latin America and the Caribbean (17 percent) and North America (13 percent).
- In Latin America and the Caribbean, there are 17 women engaged in early-stage entrepreneurship for every 20 men entrepreneurs.
- The lowest rate is in Europe (six percent) where only six women are engaged in entrepreneurship for every 10 men doing the same.
- In just three economies, women report equal or higher entrepreneurship rates than men: Ecuador (31 percent), Vietnam (25 percent), Brazil (21 percent)
- Entrepreneurs aged 25-34 and 35-44 are the most active entrepreneurs globally.
Motivation for Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity
Seventy-four percent of adults chose to pursue an opportunity as a basis for their entrepreneurial motivations.
- The lowest average opportunity motivation is found in factor-driven economies (68 percent).
- Regionally, North America presents the highest levels of opportunity motivation at 83 percent, followed by Europe (75 percent), Asia and Oceania (74 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (72 percent), and Africa (71 percent).
In 2017, there were more than two times as many improvement-driven opportunity entrepreneurs as necessity-driven ones, on average, in factor-driven economies.
- North America tops the motivational index with five improvement-driven opportunity entrepreneurs for every one necessity-driven entrepreneur in the country.