Generating greater economic growth is firmly on the agenda across Europe, as governments and policy makers look for ways to rebalance their public finances and boost Europe’s competitiveness. In this context, European female entrepreneurship represents a major source of untapped economic potential.

To highlight this issue, Amazon commissioned a new study by Frontier Economics, Female Entrepreneurs: Europe’s Untapped Competitive Edge, which identifies the potential productivity impact of enabling greater gender parity in entrepreneurship across 13 European countries, from Denmark across to Poland.

The report also examines the barriers that females face when starting and growing their businesses and explores potential solutions. These solutions complement the Mario Draghi Report of 2024, The future of European competitiveness, which calls for a step change in the EU’s approach, emphasising the need to close the innovation gap, unlock investment, uncovering new drivers of growth and address bottlenecks in skills and productivity.

Key findings

• On average, the share of male entrepreneurs starting or running new businesses is 40% higher than that of women. The gender gap ranges from +21% in Austria and Ireland to +88% in Denmark.
• Achieving gender parity (i.e., 50% of new businesses being majority female owned) could generate around €250 billion in additional annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2040. This is equivalent to 2% of current GVA and is larger than the EU’s annual budget.
• Cumulative GVA gains between 2025 and 2040 would vary significantly by country. For EU states, this ranges from €56 billion in Finland to €737 billion in Germany. This figure increases to €825 billion when looking at the UK.
• Achieving gender parity could close up to one-third of the EU–US productivity gap identified in Mario Draghi’s report of 2024.

Key barriers cited by female entrepreneurs

Regulatory complexity (40%), access to capital (39%), administrative complexities (37%) and uncertainty around tax (36%) came out top in the report. Female-founded businesses were also more likely than male-founded businesses to report 18 out of 20 barriers as ‘significant’ or ‘moderate’. The largest gender differences when looking at female responses were: care responsibilities, bias or discrimination, and digital confidence and capability.

Solutions female entrepreneurs value most

Simplified tax information for new businesses (27%), easier access to finance and tailored support (21% and 16% respectively) and support setting up a professional website or online store (18%), were the solutions that female entrepreneurs would value the most.

Policy priorities

To unlock the full economic potential of female entrepreneurship, the report recommends: embedding gender inclusiveness in EU and national competitiveness strategies; improving access to finance, including dedicated funding schemes and clearer signposting; simplifying regulation and reducing administrative burdens for early-stage businesses; supporting digital readiness, especially for tools like online stores and marketplaces; and addressing social and structural barriers, such as caregiving responsibilities and discrimination.

Sarah Snelson, a Director at Frontier Economics, comments: “Unlocking new sources of economic growth is an increasingly important priority for countries across Europe, as governments look to boost economic output and rebalance budget deficits. Our new analysis for Amazon highlights the economic potential of achieving gender parity in European entrepreneurship and provides some practical solutions to overcome many of the barriers.”

About the report

The 13 European countries analysed in this study were: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Gross Value Added (GVA) measures the contribution of industries, sectors, or regions to the economy by subtracting the cost of intermediate inputs from the value of their output.

The €250 billion GVA figure is based on modelling by Frontier Economics. It assumes that if women started businesses at the same rate as men, a larger share of new businesses would be female led. Today, many barriers make it harder for women to start businesses, which means that only the most high-performing female-led firms tend to succeed. Removing these barriers would allow more female-led businesses to enter the market, and because these firms are highly productive, that would raise average productivity across the economy.

A full copy of the report, Female Entrepreneurs: Europe’s Untapped Competitive Edge, can be accessed here.