Unioncamere: boom in women's businesses

Almost 32 more women-owned businesses in three years, with Rome leading in terms of the presence of business women. These are some of the ideas that emerge from the photograph, taken by the Observatory of female entrepreneurship of Unioncamere-InfoCamere, on the basis of data as at 30 September last, compared with the same period in 2014. The analysis is the background to the tenth edition of the Giro d'Italia of women who do business, the initiative organized by Unioncamere together with the Committees for female entrepreneurship of the Chambers of Commerce.  
 
Starting today from Florence, the Giro will touch Pescara tomorrow, and will then stop in Ravenna (November 16), Arezzo (November 28), Turin (November 30), Ferrara (December 4), Mantua (December 5), Lecce (December 7 ), Viterbo (December 12) and Rome (December 14). The aim of the initiative: to inform female entrepreneurs and offer training tools to those who aspire to become one, to give visibility to the dynamics concerning female employment and to create consensus on the issue of equal opportunities.  
 
Data from the Business Register show a conspicuous and growing presence of women in our production system. At the end of last September, they came close to one million and 330 thousand units, increasing not only in number (almost 32 thousand more), but also increasing the incidence on the total: from 21,45% in September 2014 to 21,83% of the most recent detection.  
 
More than 40% of the balance for the three-year period comes from women's businesses in the South (just under 14 more). In the central regions, women entrepreneurs have increased by over 8.800 units, in the North-West by more than 5 thousand and in the North-East by over 4 thousand. It is precisely in the latter area, however, that the incidence on total enterprises has grown the most, reaching 20,11% at the end of last September compared to 19,55% three years ago. 
 
The women's businesses in Rome (+6.213), Naples (+4.015) and Milan (+3.934) increased the most. In terms of number, the metropolitan areas of Rome and Milan occupy the first places in the ranking in September 2017. In terms of incidence on the total number of enterprises, the provinces of the South are instead awarded the top positions. Contesting for first place are Benevento and Avellino, where business women represent over 30% of the total provincial businesses. Followed by Chieti and Campobasso, with more than 28% of female enterprises.  
 
Observing the presence of women from a sectoral point of view, a clear inclination towards some areas emerges. Among these, other service activities, which include personal services (including laundry, hairdressing, beauty salons, etc.), where over 50 out of 100 businesses are headed by women (more than 121 in absolute values, +5.885 compared to September 2014). As many as 18 out of 20 regions see this aggregate taking first place in terms of incidence of female businesses, first of all the Valle d'Aosta, where almost 66% of the companies in the sector have a woman at the helm. The only exceptions are Campania, where the sector with the highest density of women businesses is agriculture, with a feminization rate of 36,36%, and Sicily, where the largest share of women businesses out of the total is concentrated in Health and social assistance (40,31%).  
 
This last area, up by 1.339 units compared to three years ago, occupies the second position for the incidence of companies led by women on the total. There are over 15 female-driven businesses in this sector which includes services for the elderly, nursery schools, aesthetic medicine centres, with a feminization rate of over 37%. The highest feminization rates in this sector are recorded in Sardinia (51%) and Umbria (48%).  
 
The third area for female presence is education: almost 8.900 businesses led by women, +786 compared to three years ago, equal to 29,82% of the total businesses as at 30 September 2017. Puglia and Campania are the regions where women's businesses make their presence felt more strongly in this area, representing over 35% of the total.  
 
Another sector with a high participation of female entrepreneurs is tourism, where female entrepreneurs have increased by almost 10 units in three years. In as many as 11 regions (Abruzzo, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Piedmont, Tuscany, Trentino Alto Adige, Umbria and Valle d'Aosta), women-run businesses in the accommodation and catering sector represent at least 30% of activities present in the various territories.  
 
Finally, women entrepreneurs play an important role in the rental, travel agency and business services sector, where female businesses have increased by 4.568 units since 2014. In this area, on average, business women represent more than a quarter of the total, but in 4 regions (Abruzzo, Liguria, Piedmont, Sardinia), the activities led by women exceed 30% of the local productive fabric