Unioncamere: Women's businesses, 10 more in twelve months despite the crisis

“Boom” of joint-stock companies: +5,6% – Tourism, construction and associated services are the fastest growing sectors – Tuscany, Lombardy and Lazio are the most dynamic regions.

Despite having been a really difficult twelve months, between March 2012 and March 2013 the companies 'in pink' increased their pace by increasing their number by over 10 thousand units. At the end of the first quarter of this year, therefore, there were 1.424.798 women-owned businesses registered in the Chambers of Commerce business register, 23,5% of the total. More interesting, however, is to compare their performance with the average of the entire Italian entrepreneurial fabric. In fact, the latter increased by just 0,2% in the period considered, while the army of female companies maintained a more than triple step: +0,7%. So much so that the 10.231 female enterprises make up almost 3/4 of the entire balance achieved by the enterprise system (equal to +13.762 enterprises).

Another significant indication comes from the choice of the legal form of the new women's enterprises: the balance sheet for the twelve months examined, in fact, records a real explosion of "pink" joint stock companies: +11.663 units, equal to a growth in the stock of these enterprises of 5,6 .1.042%. This is accompanied by the significant increase in cooperatives led by women: 3,6 more companies, equal to an increase of 72% in the period. Looking at the capital endowment of these companies, the data from the Unioncamere Observatory highlight a greater financial fragility of women-owned companies than the average: 10% of them, in fact, operate with a share capital of less than 67 thousand euros, against 21,5 % of the enterprise average. At the same time, female businesses show a lower average age than other businesses: 18,5% are just over two years old, against XNUMX% of the average of businesses.

"In these difficult years, the marked entrepreneurial propensity of women is giving concrete answers to the crisis and the reduction of job opportunities" said the President of Unioncamere, Ferruccio Dardanello. “It is a sign of confidence in the possibilities of the market and of the company to get out of this long tunnel. Without business there is no work, whether employee or self-employed. And therefore in the plans to reduce unemployment, we must focus above all on businesses and on the desire that many Italians, first of all women, continue to have despite everything. This desire must be supported with policies that simplify the moment of business start-up, which allow favorable access to credit, even in the most innovative forms such as venture capital, microcredit, crowd funding, and then with training and information actions on territories. Actions that the Chambers of Commerce are promoting through the Committees for Female Entrepreneurship, thanks to which we have developed the Italian network of the European project "Be-win" - "Business Entrepreneurship Women in Network - in which business women and aspiring female entrepreneurs can get in touch and value their own experiences and skills. "

Tab. 1 – Enterprises registered as at 31 March 2013 by region – Total enterprises and women's enterprises

Stock, balance and changes in stock in the period 31 March 2012 – 31 March 2013.

Absolute values and percentages

Table at FIRSTonline.info