Women in Business Statistics

Courage, determination, passion, strength, and enthusiasm are some of the qualities that define a WOMAN. Eliza Lucas, a woman with a purpose, was the first female of the United States to take over her family business, at 16. And from then on, there’s a continuous list of women found at every corner of the world, striving to establish themselves as no less than men. They have been fighting against all odds and are coming to par with males.

This article consists of a handpicked list of statistics denoting the following:-


Key Women in Business Statistics

Here are the top stats from the plethora of figures we have collected for you:


  1. There are 12.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S.. (Fundera)
  1. The revenue generation is around $1.8 trillion annually. (Legal zoom)
  1. It has been observed that women control $20 trillion annual spendings. (What to become)
  1. It is predicted that this number will rise to $28 trillion in the upcoming years. (What to become)
  1. Only 26 women are found as CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. (Forbes)
  1. According to Pew research, this makes only 5.2% of the female population. (Forbes)
  1. Organizations that prefer women in leadership roles achieve 90% retention rates. (Impact group)
  1. The number of women-owned businesses, only in the United States has grown by 114%. (What to become)
  1. The last 12 years have witnessed a yearly growth of 4.2%. (What to become)
  1. Taking into consideration the small business, 36% of them are owned by women worldwide. (Legal job site)

Rise of Women Entrepreneurs

Due to evils like gender inequality, the role and number of women have always been underrepresented in business. They have always been looked down upon due to the consideration of their sex as ‘weaker’. However, in actuality, the number of women entrepreneurs has shown an upswing for the last few decades.


  • There are 12.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S.. (Fundera)
  • The number of women-owned businesses, only in the United States has grown by 114%. (What to become)
  • The last 12 years have witnessed a yearly growth of 4.2%. (What to become)
  • 1500 new companies have been started by women. (What to become)
  • As of 1972, there were only 402,000 women-run businesses. But, this has shown a quick boost now. (Fundera)
  • Last year, there were 1821 businesses started every day by women. (Fundera)
  • Taking into consideration the small business, 36% of them are owned by women worldwide. (Legal job site)
  • California accounts for the highest proportion of women entrepreneurs, i.e. 1.3 million. (Legal Job site)
  • There are more than 860,000 women-run businesses located in Texas. (Legal job site)
  • The rate by which women entrepreneurs are growing is 5%. (Legal job site)

Revenue Generated by Women Entrepreneurs

Thinking about plunging into a business, and still not able to take the step? Well, don’t worry. Relax. Keeping aside the risks involved, this list of statistics will present before you the revenue generated and advantages of being women entrepreneurs that will inspire you to make a move now!


  • The revenue generation is around $1.8 trillion annually. (Legal zoom)
  • At present, more than $325 million in grant financing has been mobilized. (Devex)
  • It has been done with the specific objective of enabling more than $800 million in financing from the commercial finance sector. (Devex)
  • It will help in enabling more than $1 billion in financing for SMEs owned by women. (Devex)
  • Women-led private tech companies secure 35% higher ROI. (Fundera)
  • It has been proved that the success rate acquired by women is 69.5%. (Fundera)
  • It has been observed that women control $20 trillion annual spendings. (What to become)
  • It is predicted that this number will rise to $28 trillion in the upcoming years. (What to become)
  • The revenue generated also increased from 20% to 21%. (Business wire)
  • Women of color generate $422.5 billion in revenue. (Business wire)

Challenges Faced by Women Entrepreneurs

The part of success is never a bed of roses. To get it through, you got to walk on thorns too. Despite the advantages, many challenges face women during their journey of entrepreneurship. Below presented statistics denote some of them.


  • Only 26 women are found as CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. (Forbes)
  • According to Pew research, this makes only 5.2% of the female population. (Forbes)
  • It has been found that 48% of the women entrepreneurs do not have any role models, which limits their growth. (Business news daily)
  • Sex discrimination was faced with 31% of young women while looking for work. (Samplius)
  • 19% of them said that they were paid less than other male colleagues. (Samplius)
  • Maternity discrimination was experienced by another 43% of them. (Samplius)
  • Sex separation affected the emotional wellness of 52% of young ladies. (Samplius)
  • 23% of mothers find it difficult to spend time with their children. (Samplius)
  • According to census data, 3.34 million carers are females. Hence, they find it hard to start a business. (Nat West)
  • When pitching to investors, two-thirds of 750 females felt that they were not taken into consideration seriously. (Nat West)

Contribution of Women in Business

The underrepresentation of women entrepreneurs does not limit the contribution made by them in their respective economies, and eventually in the world economy. Though less in numbers as compared with the males, the assistance made by them is quite significant.


  • Women-owned businesses generate employment for over 9 million people. (Nawbo)
  • However, this is only 8% of the total private workforce. (Nawbo)
  • The total employment in these companies has been found to have increased from 6% to 8%. (Nawbo)
  • 89% of the newly created businesses in 2019 are credited to women of color. (Business wire)
  • Though, in the last 45 years,  this number has increased by 163%. (Business wire)
  • In the last 10 years, there has been a 172% increase in Hispanic women-owned businesses. (NWBC)
  • Hispanic women own around 1.9 million firms in the United States. (NWBC)
  • There are over 550,400 employees hired by them. (NWBC)
  • 20% of healthcare employees are usually hired by women-owned businesses. (Small business trends)
  • Women-owned 10 companies became unicorns, in the first half of 2019. (Crunchbase News)

Impact of Women in Business

Women in business have had a significant impact on running the economy. Their patience, ability to make connections, and adaptability to the changing environment are some of the qualities that have led them to become established entrepreneurs.


• According to a survey of Harvard Business Review, women were placed higher in 12 out of 16 core leadership skills. (Online MBA)

• As compared with the 15% male leaders, 20% of the female leaders participate in the social media marketing of the company. (Online MBA)

• Researchers found that median returns on assets and equity in 2015 were at least 74 percent higher among the 25 businesses with the highest percentage of female execs and board members. (Forbes)

• In the stock market value, women represent $5 trillion. (Forbes)

• A 13.3% return on assets was achieved by the popular home-goods and gifts provider. (Forbes)

• 30% representation of women in business led to a 15% increase in the net revenue margin. (Impact group)

• It was a 46% return on equity. (Impact group)

• On invested capital, the return was 60%. (Impact group)

• A return of 84% was reported on sales. (Impact group)

• Organizations that prefer women in leadership roles achieve 90% retention rates. (Impact group)

Frequently Asked Questions

There are nearly 11.6 million businesses owned by females in the United States.

Gina Rinehart is recorded to be the richest female entrepreneur with a net worth of $17.4 billion.

The main reason that can be stated for a fewer number of females in business is gender bias. Women are often not much encouraged to come forward and own a business.

There are various challenges like lack of support or encouragement, time-management, and capital.

Female entrepreneurs are needed because they get a sense of financial freedom and eventually they stand on their feet. They are also lifted out of poverty.

Conclusion

After going through the article, you must be well aware of the growing involvement of women in business corporations and how fruitful they have been proved for the same! No doubt, their share in the business is here to stay for long and will rise, for sure. I’d like to wind up by asking- If you are a woman, which business are you going to start with? 

Author: Shubham Calmblay

Shubham Calmblay, founder of appsthatdeliver.com, has a decade of experience with various Google products. He has authored 1,000+ guides for ATD, published on prestigious tech blogs. His work has garnered recognition from Protocol.com, Leadsbridge.com, MadMobile.com, and numerous other leading publications and corporations.