Entrepreneurship in Ireland 2019 (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor)

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) has been keeping its finger on the pulse of entrepreneurship since 1999. In 2019, fifty economies across the world participated in the research by collecting representative surveys among the adult population, as well as surveys among each economy’s experts in entrepreneurship. Over 3,000 people started a new business every month in Ireland in 2019 and the rate of early stage entrepreneurial activity observed was the highest it has ever been since we began to track rates. This was driven by an increase in the rate at which both men and women were early stage entrepreneurs. The rate for men increased more strongly than it did for women. Across the OECD Ireland ranks 10th in terms of early stage entrepreneurs and 4th in Europe. The entrepreneurial funnel in Ireland would also appear to be strong with one in five aspiring or planning to start a business in the next three years. Men and women are well represented among those that aspire to be entrepreneurs in the future. However, they are planning and starting quite different types of businesses. Women are more focused on consumer services. An observation across countries is that levels of early stage entrepreneurship increase with age and then decline. In Ireland, we have noted for many years a relatively low rate of involvement by young people as early stage entrepreneurs. In 2019, however, there was a significant increase in young people planning and starting a business. The rate of early stage entrepreneurs among those aged 55+ continued to strengthen in Ireland, placing Ireland to the fore in Europe in this regard and 6th across the OECD. Entrepreneurs are valued for a myriad of reasons including their job creation potential. However, in many countries, such as Norway and Sweden for example, a considerable proportion does not expect to become employers. In Ireland, however, 79% of early stage entrepreneurs expect to become employers and a significant proportion expect to grow their employment numbers considerably over time. Ireland is ranked first across the OECD in terms of jobs growth expectation.