Five economies have consistently participated in GEM over the past 19 years, with no interruption. For four of these (the United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Brazil), the average level of both early-stage entrepreneurial activity and established business ownership has trended upwards over the period. Only Spain has experienced little change in Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate, though with some increases in EBO (Established Business Ownership).
Sixteen economies have participated in GEM over the past 10 years with no interruption. Twelve of these have experienced levels of early-stage entrepreneurial activity that have trended upwards, while nine of these have also experienced increasing EBO. Both Colombia and Greece have had relatively stable levels of TEA, but declining levels of EBO over the period. This may raise questions on the viability of new businesses in those countries and points to difficulties in turning a new business into an established one.
For 16 economies GEM data are available for 2001, for 2019 and at the midpoint in between (2010). For each of these, TEA was higher in 2019 than in 2010. However, 2010 was clearly the depth of the global financial crisis — evidenced by 13 of these economies having lower TEA in 2010 than in 2001.
For 13 of these 16 economies, TEA in 2019 was higher than in 2001: for Spain it was slightly lower but for both Mexico and Italy it was substantially lower.
Overall, GEM data suggest some increase in entrepreneurship over the past two decades, as measured by either TEA or EBO, for a majority of participating economies. However, given the growing rhetoric about entrepreneurship and its importance worldwide, these findings indicate that entrepreneurship is probably not increasing at the same pace as the rhetoric.
For more information, access the Global Report (Chapter 9, The Evolution of Entrepreneurship Over Time; page 73).