An estimated 582 million entrepreneurs operate worldwide, with 33.2 million based in the United States alone.
Around 4 out of 5 entrepreneurs have integrated AI into their business operations to enhance efficiency and growth.
Let’s take a look at the latest facts and figures about the number of entrepreneurs worldwide, as well as other latest statistics related to entrepreneur statistics.
Entrepreneurship Statistics (Top Picks For 2024)
- 582 million entrepreneurs are there worldwide as of 2024.
- 33.2 million entrepreneurs are there in the United States alone.
- On average, It takes 6 days to start a small business in the United States.
- 62% of entrepreneurs have a bachelor’s degree.
- Only 10% of startups are able to succeed in the long run. The startup failure rate is 90%!
- The average age of an entrepreneur is 42.
- The United States is the country with the most startups.
- There are 252 million female entrepreneurs in the world.
- 55% of adults in the U.S. have started at least one business in their lifetime.
How Many Entrepreneurs Are There In The World?
There are 582 million entrepreneurs in the world.
Source: Oberlo
How Many Entrepreneurs Are There In The United States?
There are 33.2 million entrepreneurs in the United States as of 2024.
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce
General Entrepreneurship Statistics
- 90% of entrepreneurs are self-made.
- 96% of self-employed people don’t intend to return to work for others.
- 5.2 million new businesses were started in 2022 alone. This number slightly decreased from 2021, when the number was 5.4 million.
- 20% of entrepreneurs manage or own a business with a family member.
- 39% of entrepreneurs are very happy with what they are doing.
Here is a table showing the levels of happiness of entrepreneurs in the United States:
| Level Of Happiness | Share Of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Happy | 39% |
| Somewhat Happy | 36% |
| Neutral | 10.4% |
| Somewhat Unhappy | 10.2% |
| Very Unhappy | 4.5% |
- Dissatisfaction with corporate America is the prime reason to start a business for 60.87% of the people.
Here is a table showing why people start their own businesses:
| Reason To Start A Business | Share Of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Dissatisfaction with corporate America | 60.87% |
| Desire to be oneself’s boss | 47.64% |
| Opportunity to pursue the passion | 31% |
| An opportunity presented itself | 21.36% |
| State of being newly Unemployed | 23.44% |
| Not ready to retire | 20% |
- Getting a company registered in the United States takes anywhere from 6 days to 3 months. New Zealand takes an average of 1 day to start a new business.
- Starting a business also differs according to the business type. E.g., Starting a clothing line can take a year or a year and a half. Retail stores can be opened within 6 months. An online store can be launched within a week. It takes 2-10 weeks to build an app.
- According to the National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI) Score, the United Arab Emirates is the best country for entrepreneurs in 2023.
Here is the list of the top 20 countries for Entrepreneurs:
| Country | NECI Score |
|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | 6.8 |
| Netherlands | 6.3 |
| Finland | 6.2 |
| Saudi Arabia | 6.1 |
| Lithuania | 6.1 |
| Norway | 5.7 |
| Korea Republic | 5.7 |
| Switzerland | 5.5 |
| Qatar | 5.5 |
| Spain | 5.4 |
| United States | 5.3 |
| Sweden | 5.3 |
- Over 50% of adults globally want to start a business to make money because jobs are scarce.
- 20% of people haven’t pursued entrepreneurship because they are loyal to their current employer.
- 58% of entrepreneurs are ex-corporate employees.
Sources: Forbes, Freshbooks, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Guidant, Xero.
Small Business Statistics For Entrepreneurs
- 65% of small businesses in the United States are profitable.
- 54% of small company owners believe the Covid19 is still affecting their operations. 19.4%, on the other hand, think that the impact is over. 26.1% of people still are unsure.
- Small businesses in the United States employ 61.7 million people as of 2023, which is equivalent to 46.4% of the working U.S. population.
- 70% of small business owners work 40 hours every week.
- 65% of small company owners believe their companies are profitable.
- 39% of small company owners want to spend money on digital marketing, while 23% want to spend on traditional marketing.
- 23% of small businesses plan to have complete remote employees by 2023-2025.
- 87% of small businesses starting in 2023 plan to operate in a hybrid environment.
- Inflation is the biggest problem for small business owners in the United States as of 2023.
Here is a table showing the top 10 problems experienced by small business owners in 2023:
| Problems | Share Of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Inflation | 29% |
| Quality of Labor | 26% |
| Taxes | 15% |
| Cost of Labor | 10% |
| Other | 5% |
| Government Regulations | 4% |
| Cost/Availablity of Insurance | 4% |
| Poor Sales | 3% |
| Competition from larger businesses | 3% |
| Finance and interest rates | 1% |
- It was estimated that Small businesses would spend around 680 billion in 2022 on IT services. This number is set to reach 725 billion in 2023.
Small Business Finance Statistics For Entrepreneurs
- One of the top three financial goals for 36% of entrepreneurs is “getting money.”
- 40% of crowdfunding projects raise financing for commercial and entrepreneurial initiatives.
- 29% of small business owners are worried about inflation.
- 64% of small company entrepreneurs start their companies with less than $10,000.
- 2,680 seed and angel deals have been completed in the US in 2023 so far. This is down 23% from the same period in 2022
- The median seed round size in the US was $1.8 million in the first three quarters of 2023, down from $2.2 million in the same period in 2022
- it is estimated that there were approximately 2,000 early-stage venture capital agreements completed in the US in the first three quarters of 2023. This is down from approximately 2,500 early-stage venture capital agreements completed in the same period in 2022.
- The value of early-stage venture capital (VC) agreements peaked in the first quarter of 2022, reaching over $50 billion USD, almost 11 billion USD less than in the fourth quarter of 2021.
- In the fourth quarter of that year, the global venture capital market saw 1,072 late-stage agreements. Late-stage venture capital agreements totaled 964 in Q1 of 2022.
- The median income of small business owners is $65,500.
Sources: Oberlo, Guidant, Quickbooks, Statista, Payscale, Crunchbase
Entrepreneur Demographics
- As per Guidant’s survey, 77.5% of small business owners in the United States are males, while 23.4% are female as of 2023.
Here is a table showing the gender split of small business owners in the United States:
| Gender | Share Of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Male | 77.5% |
| Female | 23.4% |
| Self Describe | 0.2% |
- GenX is the segment with the highest number of entrepreneurs in the United States. In Guidant’s annual report, 46.46% of the entrepreneurs surveyed belong to Genx. Boomers are just behind with a 45.4% share.
Here is a table showing the distribution of entrepreneurs in the United States by Generation:
| Generation | Share Of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Gen X | 46.5% |
| Boomers | 45.5% |
| Millennials | 7% |
| Gen Z | 0.5% |
| Post-war | 0.5% |
Sage Reads: Insights into Gen Alpha
- 84.7% of the Entrepreneurs in the United States belong to the white race, 4.1% are Hispanic, and 4% belong to the black community.
Here is a table showing the distribution of entrepreneurs in the United States by race:
| Race | Share Of Respondents |
|---|---|
| White | 84.7% |
| Black | 4% |
| Hispanic | 4.1% |
| Asian American | 4.1% |
| Others | 2.7% |
- 6% of American small businesses are veteran-owned.
- The state of Florida has the highest number of entrepreneurs, with 12.2% of the adult population involved in entrepreneurship.
Here is a table showing the number of entrepreneurs by state:
| State | Number Of Entrepreneurs (As A Percentage Of Adults) |
|---|---|
| Florida | 12.2% |
| Texas | 11.8% |
| California | 11.6% |
| Georgia | 11.4% |
| Arizona | 11.3% |
| North Carolina | 11.2% |
| Colorado | 11.1% |
| Tennessee | 11.0% |
| Utah | 10.9% |
| South Carolina | 10.8% |
| Oklahoma | 10.7% |
Source: Guidant, Statista.
Entrepreneur Qualification Statistics
- 62% of entrepreneurs have a bachelor’s degree, while 6% hold a high school diploma.
Here is a table showing entrepreneurs and the degree they hold:
| Degree | Share Of Entrepreneurs |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree. | 62% |
| Associate degree. | 14% |
| Master’s degree. | 11% |
| High school diploma. | 6% |
Female Entrepreneur Statistics
- 252 million entrepreneurs in the world are females.
- Women Earn 91¢ For Every $1 Earned By Men.
- 41% of small businesses that employ people are operated by women.
- 20% of small businesses that do not have women operate any employees.
- African-American women own 2.5% of small businesses.
- Women are more likely to own a sole proprietorship than males across the globe.
- Nearly 40% of women entrepreneurs use cash to start their businesses.
- Retail is the most popular sector for female entrepreneurs.
Sources: Fit Small Businesses, Hubspot, GEM, Guidant.
Conclusion: 582 Million Entrepreneurs Are There Worldwide
Entrepreneurship largely contributes significantly to job creation and economic resilience.
While entrepreneurship presents numerous exciting opportunities, 20% of small businesses fail within the first year, primarily due to poor market alignment or inadequate funding.
Despite these challenges, entrepreneurs have access to a variety of funding options, such as venture capital and crowdfunding, which help them turn their ideas into reality and overcome financial limitations, enabling new businesses to grow and succeed.
