Chile is OECD country with highest percentage of population participating in new ventures

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to a report recently published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which considers countries of the group and the European Union, Chile also stands out for the number of new business owners among its inhabitants.

In the recently published report “The Lost Entrepreneurs 2021”, the OECD makes an exhaustive X-ray of how entrepreneurship operates both in its member countries and in those belonging to the European Union, where Chile stands out for the percentage of people between 16 and 64 years of age who embark on new business ventures.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Chile

As documented, between 2016 and 2020, the rate of nascent entrepreneurship in the country’s entire population reaches 20.3% among men and 16.8% among women – the highest figures in each case (review infographic).

Only Colombia also manages to present double-digit figures, both in female and male entrepreneurs. Estonia, Latvia, the United States, Turkey, Canada, and Slovakia also achieve double-digit figures. At the other extreme is Spain, with 2.4% for men, and Italy, with 1.3% for women.

The result is outstanding for the country regarding the rate of ownership of new businesses. As a percentage of the population between the ages of 16 and 64, Chile has a rate of 11.2% for men, the highest figure on the list. In the case of women, it is 7.8%, surpassed only by Colombia with 8.8%.

GAP IN SELF-EMPLOYMENT

However, the report focused on the difficulties of certain groups of the population to become entrepreneurs, highlighting the problems faced in Chile and the rest of the member countries.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating for entrepreneurs and business owners. This is even more true for entrepreneurs from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, such as women, immigrants, youth, and the elderly,” the report notes.

In this context, Chile does not offer only favorable data. One of the elements considered by the multilateral organization is related to the rate of self-employment, in relation to the universe of employees, and the gap between men and women in this area, which has decreased in 30 countries, while only six show increases.

The latter group includes Chile, with an increase of 1.9 percentage points in the gap between men and women, which is only surpassed by Poland, Croatia, and Lithuania, which recorded an increase of more than 2 points.

Among those that managed to reduce the gap, Ireland made the most significant progress, decreasing 5.8 percentage points. Cyprus also stands out, with a reduction of 5 points, followed by Israel, Romania, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Turkey, and France, with cuts of more than 2 points (see infographic).

In this area, the OECD highlights that “microenterprises and the self-employed faced many challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, including reduced demand for their goods and services and the need to adjust business operations in response to temporary operating restrictions and social distancing measures.”

It is because of the above that “most faced a significant reduction in hours worked and income. However, the evidence suggests that women, immigrants, youth, and senior entrepreneurs faced even greater challenges due to their concentration in the sectors that were most affected and had the least access to resources,” the document adds.