2015 FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP INDEX

The Female Entrepreneurship Index (formerly known as the Gender GEDI) is the world’s most comprehensive diagnostic tool that measures high potential female entrepreneurship by analyzing entrepreneurial ecosystems, business environments, and individual aspirations across 77 developed and developing economies. Spanning multiple regions, FEI provides a systematic approach that allows cross-country comparison and benchmarking. The goal of the research is not to provide a headcount of female entrepreneurs worldwide, but rather to serve as a future-oriented tool to guide leaders, policymakers, and law-makers in identifying country-wide strengths and weaknesses and in developing strategies to create more favorable conditions in their countries to enable businesses founded by women to thrive.

  

2015 Female Entrepreneurship Index Research Shows More Support Needed to Enable Female Entrepreneurship Development Worldwide

• The United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom named top three places for female entrepreneurs
• Globally:

1. The percentage of female entrepreneurs who are highly educated has increased 9%
2. The percentage of business gazelles (those who intend to grow their businesses by 50% and employ 10 people within 5 years) among female entrepreneurs has increased 7%
3. The percentage of female businesses that are in the tech sector has decreased 19%
4. Among female businesses innovativeness has decreased 13%

• The 2015 Female Entrepreneurship Index is the most comprehensive diagnostic tool for high potential female entrepreneurship
• The 2015 Female Entrepreneurship Index contains 77 countries, expanding upon the 30 countries in its predecessor – the Gender GEDI

The FEI names the following countries in its top ten for female entrepreneurs:

Rank	Country	Score
	United States	82.9
2	Australia	74.8
3	United Kingdom	70.6
4	Denmark	69.7
5	Netherlands	69.3
6	France	68.8
7	Iceland	68.0
8	Sweden	66.7
9	Finland	66.4
10	Norway	66.3

 The analysis reveals opportunities for improvement within several geographic regions.

• Europe can improve Opportunity Recognition – whether women recognize 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

About the Female Entrepreneurship Index

The 2015 Female Entrepreneurship Index includes 77 countries. The Index focuses on high potential female entrepreneurs who are defined as ‘innovative, market-expanding, and export-oriented.’ The Index combines variables that measure agency and institutions in a composite index in order to capture the multi-dimensional aspects of female entrepreneurship development. Data comes from existing internationally recognized sources such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), World Economic Forum (WEF), World Bank, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Labour Organization (ILO), etc. The GEDI Institute is a research and consulting organization based in Washington, D.C. that assists governments, donor agencies, foundations, international assistance providers, and global companies expand economic opportunities for individuals, build future markets for societies, and propel economic development for nations. It uses an innovative methodology to advance entrepreneurship, thereby accelerating economic growth.

Methodology

The Female Entrepreneurship Index’s unique methodology brings together variables that measure individuals and institutions in a composite index that highlights issues relevant for high potential female entrepreneurship development and growth. Thirty individual-level and institutional-level dimensions are paired together into fifteen pillars that are further divided into three main sub-indices: Entrepreneurial Environment, Entrepreneurial Eco-System, and Entrepreneurial Aspirations. The novel Penalty for Bottleneck methodology is applied to the pillar scores so that the ‘bottleneck’ (i.e., pillar with the lowest score) penalizes the final country ranking. This approach encourages countries to address their weakest areas first since it will have the greatest effect on their final score.

Citation from GEDI - Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute : http://goo.gl/VDAL4T