Page 49 - guidance-supporting-europe-s-aspiring-entrepreneurs-policy-and-practice-to-harness-future-potential

Guidance supporting Europe’s aspiring entrepreneurs
Policy and practice to harness future potential

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entrepreneurship were 7% and 31% (Kelley et al., 2010) ( ). Out of the 15 (2009)
and 16 (2010) countries surveyed, Latvia (2009) and Ireland (2010) record the
highest percent of necessity driven entrepreneurship in Europe, with 32% and
31% of all new entrepreneurs having set up their company out of need. The
lowest share of necessity driven entrepreneurs in 2010 can be found in Iceland
(7%), Denmark and the Netherlands both with 8%.
As indicated in Figure 3, there was a 6% increase in the number of
entrepreneurs across Europe between 1999 and 2009. The most significant
change occurred in Slovakia where there was a 133% increase over the 10-year
period compared to a reduction in Lithuania of 39% (see Table 1). With the
exception of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, there was a general reduction in
Eastern European countries. Most Western European countries have seen a
clear growth in the number of entrepreneurs, with the Netherlands leading the
way with a 35% increase.

Table 1. Change in number of entrepreneurs between 1999 and 2009
across Europe

Countries (% change between 1999 and 2009)
Decline (negative growth of LT (-39%), IS (-26%), HU (-20%), PT (-12%), RO (-10%),
more than 2%) PL (-10%), BU (-9%), LV (-8%), SI (-4%)
Stable (growth of +/-2%) EE (1%), BE (2%), SE (2%)

FI (4%), DK (4%), EL (5%), IT (6%), ES (8%), LU (9%), CY
Incline (growth of over 2%) (9%), FR (10%), IE (12%), AT (13%), DE (15%), NO (15%), UK
(15%), CZ (19%), MT (25%), NL (35%), SK (133%)
Source: Eurostat, 2010.

Across the EU-27, about 80% of citizens feel that it is difficult to start up a
business due to a lack of available financial support; this was highest in Bulgaria,
Greece and Latvia (91-92%), and lowest in Finland (56%), Austria and the
Netherlands both with 63%. (The Gallup Organization, 2009).
It is also important to look into the enterprise birth and success rates to
understand the entrepreneurial landscape in Europe. Americans are involved in
three times as many new entrepreneurial ventures as Europeans, with European
firms generally starting smaller, growing more slowly, and dying faster than their
counterparts in the United States (European Commission, 2003; Volkmann et al.,

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( ) Note: 15 study countries were included in this survey in 2009 and 16 in 2010: Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary (only 2009), Iceland, Ireland (only 2010),
Italy, Latvia (only 2009), the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal (only 2010), Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden (only 2010) and the UK.

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