In 2021, the United States was the leading country in the world in terms of supporting female entrepreneurship. The country scored 69.9 index points, with New Zealand and Canada close behind. Of the 65 countries included in the index, Bangladesh was given the lowest score with 32.5, followed by Egypt and Malawi. The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) rates women's conditions based on three components: women’s advancement outcomes, knowledge assets and financial access, and entrepreneurial supporting conditions.

Chile had the highest share of female entrepreneurs among the OECD countries in 2023 and 2024 with 30 percent of women having started or in the process of starting their own business. Colombia followed with a share of 26 percent. By comparison, the lowest rates of female entrepreneurship in the countries included were found in Poland and Denmark.

Botswana was the leading African country for favoring women's entrepreneurship in 2021. In the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE), the country scored 56.3 points and was followed by South Africa (54.9) and Ghana (51.1). According to the index, these nations not only have a high percentage of female-owned businesses but also formally support women entrepreneurs. Worldwide, male-owned businesses are prevalent in both developing and developed countries, with women often suffering from gender discrimination and burdening family responsibilities. Moreover, in developing nations, it is common to establish entrepreneurial activities out of necessity.

Poland was the only of the OECD member states included here that had a female to male entrepreneurship ratio of more than one in 2022/2023, meaning that for every male entrepreneur, there were 1.07 female entrepreneurs. Perhaps somewhat surprising, the Scandinavian country Norway, known for its high levels of gender equality, was second bottom of the list together with Slovenia, Lithuania, and Greece.

As per the 73rd National Sample Survey, women owned a little over 20 percent of all micro, small and medium businesses across India compared to nearly 80 percent among men in financial year 2016. Furthermore, women had the highest share of micro businesses within business sizes, with more enterprises in rural areas than urban parts of the country during the measured time period.

As of 2020, around 40 percent of the Tunisian businesses had a female participating in ownership. The share declined compared to 2013. That year, women were shareholders of nearly 50 percent of the private firms in the country. In 2020, female participation in ownership in Tunisia was higher than the global average, set at 33.1 percent.

According to surveys conducted in 2023, women involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity in Thailand accounted for 24.5 percent of the adult population. In comparison, India had a higher proportion of the male population involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity, where men accounted for 14.6 percent and females for 9.3 percent of the total adult population as of 2023.

As of 2020, women participation in the ownership of businesses in Egypt was minimal, with almost five percent of the respondent businesses owned by females. The share declined even more to close to two percent when considering firms with majority female ownership. Moreover, approximately six percent of the Egyptian firms had a female as a top manager as of the same period. Female participation in business ownership in the country was lower than the world average, which was at 33.1 percent according to the same survey.

As of 2020, the majority of the top managers in Africa were males. In South Africa, nearly 39 percent of the businesses had a female top manager, the highest share registered in the continent. Rwanda and Kenya followed with around 22 percent and 18 percent of the firms managed by women. However, other African countries recorded considerably higher levels of gender disparity. Only around five percent of the business enterprises in Morocco had a female top manager as of the same period.

In 2024, Colombia was the leading Latin American country when it came to female membership in companies boards. In that country, 20.8 percent of business leaders were women. Brazil followed second, with a share of 19.1 percent.

Of the 20 countries included, France had the highest share of female board members in major publicly traded companies, with 45 percent in 2024. While the share of female board members in major companies has grown around the world over the past decade, they continue to make up a smaller share than men in all countries included.

In Norway, nine percent of adult men and five percent of adult women were involved in the early stage of a start-up in 2023, meaning that they were either setting up or owning and running a new business. This was significantly lower than in many other countries in Europe.

More than three thirds of surveyed Russian business representatives believed that modern women in the country had more opportunities to run a business than in the 1990s. According to 13 percent of respondents, the situation did not change for female entrepreneurs since that time.

This statistic shows the percentage of men and women in the respective Gulf Cooperation Council countries who reported that they would have access to the money required to start a business if needed. In Saudi Arabia, 29 percent of female respondents said they would have access to the money that they would need to start a business.

A high majority of the founders of new public and private limited companies in Norway are men. Moreover, the gap between female and male founders of new limited enterprises in the country increased over the past decade. In 2022, more than 27,000 of the newly founded limited companies in Norway were founded by men, compared to 7,100 founded by women. In other words, just above 20 percent of the new entrepreneurs of limited enterprises were women that year.

This statistic shows the percentage of men and women in the respective Gulf Cooperation Council countries who had access to a mentor to guide them in the process of managing a business. In Qatar, 57 percent of female respondents said they knew someone who would be able to give them advice on running a business as compared to 66 percent of men.

In 2022, six Latin American countries had over 84 percent of their female entrepreneurs starting a business because jobs and opportunities are scarce. Overall, in the region, women had a higher necessity-driven entrepreneurship rate than men. In Guatemala, the necessity-driven entrepreneurship rate reached nearly 92 percent for women, and 86.5 percent for men.

As of 2020, women participated in the ownership of around 40 percent of the businesses in Tunisia. However, the share declined to nearly eight percent when considering firms with majority female ownership. Moreover, some 10 percent of Tunisian firms had a female as top manager as of the same period. Female participation in ownership in the country was higher than the global average, set at 33.1 percent according to the same survey. Nevertheless, the proportion of women as the majority shareholders of businesses was significantly higher worldwide, around 15 percent.

In 2021, nearly 46 percent of women that founded a start-up in Brazil had an academic specialization, which is a postgraduate modality focused on obtaining practical and technical skills, directly applicable to the professional's daily life. About 15.8 percent of them were graduate. Further, over three-quarters of women founders of start-ups in the country were white.

The female representation across the total workforce in technology companies amounts to around 48 to 43 percent in the selected countries, except in India where women only make up 20 percent of the total workforce. However, the share of women working in technology teams is much smaller and amounts to around 20 to 23 percent in all displayed countries.