Data shows world at 52% entrepreneurial capacity, powers policy discussions during Global Entrepreneurship Week
Download the full report | View the interactive map of countries
The 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI), released today in partnership with the GEDI Institute, shows that entrepreneurship is generally on the rise around the world but that there is much room for growth.
The GEI, measuring the entrepreneurial ecosystems in 130 countries—from Albania to Zambia—measures global entrepreneurial capacity at 52%. It is being launched at policy summits and roundtable discussions around the world as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
“There is a rapidly growing demand from startup communities and policymakers alike to help new firms start and scale,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network. “This Index identifies each country’s unique challenges and serves as a compass for prescribing the most effective interventions.”
The report provides a detailed look at the entrepreneurial ecosystem of nations by combining individual data such as opportunity recognition and risk perception with institutional components like the depth of capital markets, globalization and spending on research and development.
The United States tops the list of countries, followed by (in order): Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Taiwan, Switzerland and Singapore.
The Index has found that entrepreneurship tends to be higher in richer countries and that different regions face very different challenges and priorities in growing their ecosystems. These are important findings for policymakers as it suggests that there is no one optimal policy approach that will work everywhere.
“While effective entrepreneurs, those able to seize new opportunities, contribute to sustainable growth all over the world,” said Zoltan Acs, the founder and president of the GEDI Institute, the results of our work, compiled in the GEI, reflect that how countries go about providing an environment in which their citizens’ are able to innovate and iterate new products, services and processes varies from region to region and country to country. We specifically designed the GEI to serve countries across the globe as a guide for mapping out their own approaches to strengthening their national systems of entrepreneurship.”
National-level entrepreneurship is defined as the dynamic, institutionally embedded interaction between entrepreneurial attitudes, entrepreneurial abilities, and entrepreneurial aspirations by individuals, which drives the allocation of resources through the creation and operation of new ventures.
Policy-driven events featuring discussions about the Index and its findings include: Athens, Greece; Cairo, Egypt; Frankfurt, Germany; Gaborone, Botswana; Jakarta, Indonesia; London, England; Lusaka, Zambia; Nicosia, Cyprus; Prague, Czech Republic; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Sofia, Bulgaria; and more.