Representatives of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry took part in Eurochambres` event "From data to action: results of a survey among women entrepreneurs", organized together with the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and women's empowerment - UN Women.
Opening the event, Kirsi Madi, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, and Marina Rožić, Chair of the Eurochambres Women Network and Secretary General of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, underlined the urgent need to transform insights into concrete change.
Published on the occasion of the event, the 2025 Women Entrepreneurs Survey revealed several key findings:
- Red tape and work-life balance are major obstacles.
- 75% of women use personal savings to start their business.
- While legal barriers are no longer seen as the core issue, strong support networks, like the Eurochambres Women Network, are essential.
Women account for almost half of the labour force in Europe. Yet women remain underrepresented among business owners. Only about one-third of businesses in the EU are started by women, indicating a persistent gender gap in entrepreneurial activity. Research shows that empowering more women to become entrepreneurs could translate in economic growth and foster both employment rates and innovation. However, women face unique challenges in starting and growing businesses, from difficulties accessing finance to balancing family responsibilities.
This report presents a detailed analysis of the latest Eurochambres and UN Women (Europe and Central Asia Regional Office) survey of women entrepreneurs across Europe. Data was collected on demographics, business characteristics, motivations, obstacles, sectoral distribution, and the role of policies and support networks. Evidence-based recommendations have then been proposed to foster and support women-led entrepreneurship in Europe.
The 2025 Survey on female entrepreneurship has been conducted by Eurochambres and UN Women and it follows 3 previous editions of the survey conducted by Eurochambres biennially, since 2019. Some of the questions are consistent with the previous editions, as the scope is to allow confronting the data collected throughout the years, so as to be able to identify recurrent issues or their evolution .
Outi Slotboom, Director for Strategy and Economic Analysis in the European Commission’s DG GROW, also intervened, stressing the value of data collection on female entrepreneurship and the need to encourage young women to pursue careers in traditionally male-dominated sectors.
A standout moment of the day was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Eurochambres and UN Women. This agreement lays the foundation for stronger cooperation, aligning efforts to empower women in business and promote gender equality at a global level.
Read the survey results here: https://bit.ly/EWN_Survey2025