This research provides the new government with crucial insights into promoting entrepreneurship across the UK.

In Scotland, for the first time, women are launching and managing new businesses at nearly the same rate as men. The report highlights that one in five entrepreneurs in Scotland are non-white. In 2023, 8.6% of working-age women were involved in starting or running a business, compared to 9.8% of men – a difference that is not statistically significant.

Globally, the gender gap in entrepreneurship is narrowing, and Scotland is at the forefront of this trend. Among Scotland's 250,000-strong non-white population, the entrepreneurial activity rate reached 24.1%. This means that approximately one in five of the 300,000 individuals within the working-age population of 3.3 million are engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity.

However, Scotland’s overall total early-stage entrepreneurial activity rate of 9.1% remains the lowest among the UK's nations.

Other findings

• Despite the constant rise in the perception that fear of failure would prevent people from starting their own business, as well as the poor growth record of the economy, the UK is a significantly more entrepreneurial society than it was at the start of the millennium. 
• For the first time since GEM records began, just under 30% of working age individuals in 2023 either intended to start a business within the next three years, were actively trying to start a business, or running their own business. 
• There has been remarkable increase in the level of early-stage entrepreneurial activity by women in the UK since 2002 from just over 3.5% to 10% – a three-fold increase.
• Despite changes in the demographic composition of migration, one statistic has remained relatively constant, immigrant and non-white ethnic populations continue to be the most entrepreneurial groups in the UK.
• In the 25 years that the GEM UK team have been collecting the views of our national experts the most disturbing conclusion to be drawn is that many of the deficiencies they have identified with the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the start of the millennium remain today.

Mark Hart, Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at Aston Business School, who leads the GEM UK team, said: “The new Labour government has inherited a more entrepreneurial society than when it left office in 2010 but still faces challenges to fully realise the potential of UK’s entrepreneurs in achieving its aim of stimulating growth in the UK economy.

“Prime Minister Starmer on taking office stated, “Our work is urgent, and we begin it today” and the findings of our report provide some indication of the work that lies ahead across his whole ministerial team and not just for Gareth Thomas the new Small Business Minister.

“The conditions that allow entrepreneurs to sustain and grow their businesses have been weakening for a number of years now and urgent action is needed in the areas of entrepreneurial finance, business support and physical infrastructure to ensure the UK can facilitate the growth ambitions of thousands of small business leaders – the majority of whom are outside London.

“Entrepreneurial education at all levels continues to remain a relative weakness in the UK compared to many international comparators despite numerous public and private initiatives over many decades – the practice of teaching basic business skills is still insufficiently widespread.”

Darren Pirie, NatWest Head of Accelerator said: “As the UK’s biggest bank for startups, we recognise that entrepreneurs make a huge contribution to business in the UK. They create a wide range of employment opportunities and are often the first to innovate, spotting trends and pivoting their ideas.

“It’s pleasing to see that early-stage business activity is on the rise across all regions of the UK and that the motivations for starting a business are becoming multifaceted. Entrepreneurs are moving away from just opportunity or necessity as the key driver, with female founders especially valuing social considerations.

“At NatWest in 2023 50% of support from our enterprise programmes went to women and 34% went to people from ethnic minority backgrounds, which backs up the GEM finding that non-white ethnic groups have become a cornerstone of the UK’s entrepreneurial activity.”