Entrepreneurship in Switzerland: Business activity by women

The proportion of women entrepreneurs continues to grow in Switzerland.

Women now account for 47% of individuals engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activities (which do not necessarily result in established businesses), according to the Switzerland 2023/2024 National Report from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). The ratio of female entrepreneurs compared to their male counterparts increased from 0.76 to 0.90 between 2022 and 2023.

In 2021, just under half of business startups in Switzerland (46.7%) involved one or more women, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office (OFS).

Number of new enterprises established in 2021
Total	43,037
By women and men	4,090	9.5%
By men	22,929	53.3%
By women	16,018	37.2%

Source: FSO, Statistics on business demography 2021

Female entrepreneurship in Switzerland

Women are still under-represented in the category of sole proprietors or employees of their own company, but they are gaining ground. This percentage of women in the population of entrepreneurs stood at 41% in Q2 2024, whereas it only reached 28.2% in 1991, according to the Swiss Labor Force Survey (SLFS) by the FSO. The percentage of female entrepreneurs in the resident female population stood at 7.2% in Q2 2024, versus 10.5% for their male counterparts.

Source: FSO, Swiss Labor Force Survey (SLFS), Q2 quarter 2024

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Information

Links

Statistics on business demography - Establishment of companies (FSO), only in French and German

Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS)

GEM Switzerland 2021/2022 National Report

Last modification 06.01.2025