Italy has the largest number of women entrepreneurs in the European Union, confirming a distinctive feature of its economic structure. In 2024, the country counted about 1,621,800 women who own a business or hold a VAT registration.
This is the highest total among EU member states and represents roughly 16% of all employed women in Italy. In comparison, France recorded around 1,531,700 female entrepreneurs, Germany about 1,222,300, and Spain approximately 1,136,000. These figures place Italy at the top in absolute numbers, even though its overall female employment rate remains lower than the European average.
