Entrepreneurship continues to be a minority activity in Catalonia. According to the GEM report, published this morning in relation to fiscal year 2021, the entrepreneurial rate is 7.2%, far from the European Union average, which is 9.2%. On the other hand, Catalonia leads the ranking if its result is compared with the Spanish average, which is 6%.
This indicator – which measures the percentage of the active population that is working on starting a business until it is 3.5 years old – has grown although it has not yet recovered from the effects of the pandemic. If in 2021 the rate was 7.2%, in 2020 it was 6.6% while in 2019 and 2018 it exceeded 8%.
By district, Lleida leads the entrepreneurial rate, with 11.2%, followed by Barcelona with 7.2%, Tarragona, 6.4% and Girona: 5.9%. Another relevant conclusion deals with the reason behind the decision to start a business, which may be due to necessity or economic opportunity. According to the report, the first motive – “to make a living because work is scarce” – prevails in 48% of cases, a percentage very far from the 17% in 2019. On the other hand, the motive of “creating great wealth” “It only occurs in 21% of cases, compared to 42% the year before the pandemic. These indicators reveal the socioeconomic difficulties that the territory is going through.
However, the report predicts that entrepreneurship will recover and will soon reach the rates of the years prior to the pandemic. 9.9% of those surveyed intend to start a business in Catalonia in the next three years, which represents an increase of 1.4% compared to the previous year.
The study also indicates what are the main obstacles to undertaking. In Catalonia, they are the fear of failure – although the real abandonment rate is only 2% – and to a lesser extent the lack of perception of opportunities and administrative facilities to start a business.
Regarding the gender of people who undertake business, women continue to be behind men, although they show slow progress. In 2021, the rate for women was 6.5% compared to 7.3% for men, a difference that has been reduced by one tenth compared to the previous year.
