Top 50 Countries by Female Ownership Participation Proxy in 2024
Countries ranked by female participation in firm ownership
This ranking compares countries by the share of formal firms that report female participation in ownership. The metric is “Firms with female participation in ownership (% of firms)”, measured as a percentage of surveyed formal firms. Higher values rank higher.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The table is a compiled research dataset based on 4 source pages: World Bank Data, the World Bank Gender Data Portal, World Open Data’s 2024 ranking display and World Bank DataBank metadata. Row-level source and method notes are shown in the ranking table.
This is not a direct ranking of female entrepreneurship, majority women-owned companies, women founders, startup activity or informal self-employment. It is a formal-firm ownership participation proxy. The 2024 table includes 50 confirmed country rows, so this page uses Top 50 rather than Top 100.
Answer first: Jamaica ranks first at 66.91%, followed by Iceland at 58.76% and Spain at 56.57%. Azerbaijan is the lowest confirmed 2024 country row at 9.63%. All 50 rows are published WDI indicator values; no forecasts or modeled projections are added.
66.91% of formal firms report female participation in ownership.
9.63% in the same 2024 confirmed country table.
Only countries with confirmed 2024 values are included.
Target year: 2024; metric: formal firms with female participation in ownership.
50 published WDI values, 0 official forecasts, 0 modeled projections.
Overview: what the metric does and does not measure
What the value means
A value of 45% means that 45 out of every 100 surveyed formal firms reported at least one female owner or female participation in ownership.
How to read the ranking
Countries are sorted from higher to lower values. Higher rank means a larger share of formal firms reporting female ownership participation, not a larger number of women entrepreneurs.
Main limitation
The indicator does not require majority female ownership, management control or founder status. A firm with one female minority owner can count in the same indicator universe.
Why countries differ
Differences can reflect formalization, family ownership, sector mix, access to finance, survey coverage and the size of informal entrepreneurship outside the formal firm sample.
Top 10 countries by female ownership participation proxy
The Top 10 contains countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and East Asia and Pacific. The ranking is calculated from the 2024 percentage value in descending order.
| Rank | Entity | Value | Source / Method Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamaica | 66.91% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Latin America & Caribbean; ranked descending. |
| 2 | Iceland | 58.76% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Europe & Central Asia; ranked descending. |
| 3 | Spain | 56.57% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Europe & Central Asia; ranked descending. |
| 4 | Ireland | 56.05% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Europe & Central Asia; ranked descending. |
| 5 | Ecuador | 55.67% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Latin America & Caribbean; ranked descending. |
| 6 | Italy | 52.95% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Europe & Central Asia; ranked descending. |
| 7 | Eswatini | 50.20% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Sub-Saharan Africa; ranked descending. |
| 8 | Lao PDR | 50.04% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; East Asia & Pacific; ranked descending. |
| 9 | Uruguay | 49.78% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Latin America & Caribbean; ranked descending. |
| 10 | Cabo Verde | 48.42% | Published WDI value; World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; 2024; Sub-Saharan Africa; ranked descending. |
The Top 10 table repeats the first ten confirmed entries from the main ranking for quick reading. Full row-level filtering is available in the main ranking table below.
Chart: Top 20 confirmed entries
This HTML/CSS chart uses the same values as the ranking table. Jamaica is the only country above 60%, while the twentieth entry, Papua New Guinea, is just above 37%.
Methodology and inclusion rules
The metric is World Bank indicator IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS, labeled “Firms with female participation in ownership (% of firms).” The source unit is percent of firms. Ranking direction is descending, so larger values rank higher.
Source hierarchy
World Bank indicator pages and metadata are used for definition, source attribution and indicator context. World Open Data is used as the public 2024 display for row coverage and ranking order.
Coverage rule
Only countries with a numeric 2024 value in the checked display are included. Aggregates, blank rows, older-year rows and countries without a 2024 value are excluded.
Status rule
All included rows are treated as published WDI values. There are no official forecasts and no modeled projections in this article.
Formula and rounding
Rank is calculated from the numeric percentage value: rank 1 is the highest value. Values are displayed to two decimal places. No averages, medians or modeled estimates are added.
The indicator does not measure majority ownership, founder status, management control, profitability, business survival, startup density, access to finance, informal self-employment or the absolute number of women entrepreneurs. It is best read as a narrow proxy for female participation in formal firm ownership.
Main ranking: Top 50 countries by female ownership participation proxy
Use the controls to search by country, filter by region or status, change sort order and switch between Top 10, Top 20 and all 50 confirmed entries.
2024 countries with values for “Firms with female participation in ownership (% of firms)”
Showing 10 rows
| Rank | Entity | Value | Source / Method Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamaica | 66.91% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Latin America & Caribbean; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 2 | Iceland | 58.76% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 3 | Spain | 56.57% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 4 | Ireland | 56.05% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 5 | Ecuador | 55.67% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Latin America & Caribbean; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 6 | Italy | 52.95% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 7 | Eswatini | 50.20% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 8 | Lao PDR | 50.04% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: East Asia & Pacific; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 9 | Uruguay | 49.78% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Latin America & Caribbean; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 10 | Cabo Verde | 48.42% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 11 | United Kingdom | 47.14% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 12 | Namibia | 46.83% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 13 | Latvia | 46.52% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 14 | Malta | 45.65% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 15 | Belgium | 44.60% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 16 | China | 44.00% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: East Asia & Pacific; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 17 | Moldova | 39.39% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 18 | Malaysia | 38.56% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: East Asia & Pacific; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 19 | Canada | 37.06% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: North America; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 20 | Papua New Guinea | 37.03% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: East Asia & Pacific; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 21 | Cameroon | 36.84% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 22 | Sweden | 35.99% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 23 | Slovenia | 35.00% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 24 | Bahrain | 34.35% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Middle East & North Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 25 | South Sudan | 33.83% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 26 | Czech Republic | 32.10% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 27 | Bhutan | 31.27% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: South Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 28 | Tonga | 31.21% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: East Asia & Pacific; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 29 | United States | 30.48% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: North America; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 30 | Benin | 30.13% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 31 | Kazakhstan | 30.11% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 32 | Cyprus | 30.02% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 33 | Uzbekistan | 28.89% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 34 | Armenia | 27.93% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 35 | Serbia | 27.45% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 36 | Angola | 26.81% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 37 | Equatorial Guinea | 26.10% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 38 | Jordan | 25.61% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Middle East & North Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 39 | Congo, Dem. Rep. | 25.03% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 40 | Congo, Rep. | 22.86% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 41 | Burkina Faso | 22.15% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 42 | South Korea | 21.51% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: East Asia & Pacific; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 43 | Senegal | 20.65% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 44 | Tunisia | 18.57% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Middle East & North Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 45 | Israel | 16.95% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Middle East & North Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 46 | Turkey | 15.84% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 47 | Mali | 11.31% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Sub-Saharan Africa; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 48 | Tajikistan | 10.70% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 49 | Turkmenistan | 10.38% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
| 50 | Azerbaijan | 9.63% | Published WDI value; source: World Bank IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS; target year: 2024; region: Europe & Central Asia; method: ranked by value descending. |
No countries match the current filters. Clear the search term or choose another region.
Table note: values are percentages of formal firms. URLs are listed in the Sources section rather than inside table cells to keep the mobile table readable.
Insights from the 2024 table
Key Insight
Jamaica leads clearly at 66.91%, more than eight percentage points above Iceland’s 58.76%.
Notable Pattern
The Top 10 is not concentrated in one region. It includes countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and East Asia and Pacific.
Regional/Source Concentration
Europe and Central Asia contributes many rows across the full Top 50, but the leading position belongs to Latin America and the Caribbean through Jamaica.
Outlier
Jamaica is the only country above 60% in the confirmed 2024 table. Azerbaijan is the opposite endpoint at 9.63%.
What this ranking means for readers
This ranking is useful for comparing the presence of women in formal firm ownership structures. It is not a count of women entrepreneurs and should not be used as a complete measure of women’s business activity.
A country can have many women entrepreneurs in absolute terms but rank lower if the share of formal surveyed firms with female ownership participation is lower. A smaller economy can rank higher if female ownership participation is common among formal firms.
The safest interpretation is comparative and narrow: the ranking shows where formal firms more often report at least one female owner. It does not prove majority control, decision-making power, equal access to finance or stronger business outcomes.
FAQ about the female ownership participation proxy
Which country ranks highest in the 2024 table?
Jamaica ranks first, with 66.91% of formal firms reporting female participation in ownership.
Why is this Top 50 instead of Top 100?
The confirmed 2024 table contains 50 country rows. Creating a Top 100 would require adding older-year values or unconfirmed rows, which would reduce comparability.
Is this a direct ranking of female entrepreneurship?
No. It is a proxy based on formal firm ownership participation. It does not measure all women entrepreneurs, startup founders, informal businesses or self-employment.
Does the indicator require majority female ownership?
No. The indicator refers to female participation in ownership. It does not require women to hold a majority ownership stake or management control.
Are there forecasts or modeled projections in the table?
No. All included rows are published WDI values for 2024. No forecast or modeled-projection rows are used.
Why can large economies rank below smaller economies?
The metric is a percentage of formal firms, not an absolute count. A large economy may have many women entrepreneurs but a lower share of formal firms with female ownership participation.
Does the ranking include informal businesses?
No. The indicator is linked to formal private-sector firm survey coverage and does not capture informal microbusinesses or unregistered self-employment.
Sources
World Bank Data — IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS
Primary indicator page for “Firms with female participation in ownership (% of firms),” including data access and source attribution.
World Bank Gender Data Portal
World Bank gender-data page for the same indicator, used for indicator context and data-access confirmation.
https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/ic-frm-femo-zs
World Open Data — 2024 ranking display
Public 2024 display used for the confirmed country rows, ranking order and top/bottom values.
https://worldopendata.com/worldbank/indicator/WB_GS/WB_GS_IC_FRM_FEMO_ZS
World Bank DataBank metadata glossary
Metadata context for the indicator and Enterprise Surveys attribution.
https://databank.worldbank.org/metadataglossary/world-development-indicators/series/IC.FRM.FEMO.ZS
