Startup Blog for First Time Entrepreneurs who Bootstrap

ILO Report 2026: Women Own Only 22.8% of Businesses, but Small Firms Are Where Women Lead. Europe Tops the Regions as Companies Cut Equal Pay and Maternity Programmes

TL;DR: what does the ILO’s 2026 report say about women in business?

On 3 November 2026 the International Labour Organization (ILO) published Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success. Women are now 22.8% of business owners and employers worldwide, up from 17.4% thirty years ago, and Europe and Central Asia has the highest share of any region at 26.4%. At the top of companies, the share with a woman CEO rose to 28.2% and the share with a woman board chair to 30.9%. Small firms are far more likely than large ones to have a woman CEO (31.9% vs 21.0%). But fewer companies are running gender equality initiatives: 26.5% in 2025, down from 37.4% in 2018.
If you run a small company, the ILO’s new report has an encouraging message: women already lead small businesses far more often than big ones. It also has a warning. The measures that help women stay and grow, from maternity support to equal pay, are being cut back in many companies, even as those companies say gender equality pays off.
Here is what the report found, what it means for women founders in Europe, and what you can do with it in your own business.

What happened

On Tuesday 3 November 2026 the ILO, the UN agency for work, released Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success. It is the third edition of a series that began with enterprise surveys in 2013 and 2018. The new edition draws on a 2025 survey of 11,957 enterprises in 99 countries, carried out between June and September 2025, plus three decades of ILO labour market data.
About a fifth of the responses (20.8%) came from Europe and Central Asia. Almost half (45.7%) came from small enterprises, which the ILO defines as having 2 to 100 employees; medium-sized firms have 101 to 250, large ones more than 250.
The ILO’s announcement led with the gains at the top of companies and the gap between promises and action. ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said: “Gender equality is a fundamental right, and the evidence is clear that it is also a powerful driver of sustainable enterprises and economic growth. The priority now is to turn policies and commitments into concrete, measurable progress.”

Women own more businesses, but still fewer than one in four

The number of women employers has nearly doubled in 30 years, from 15.1 million in 1995 to 32.7 million in 2025, according to ILO labour market estimates. The ILO counts someone as an employer if they employ at least one person. Even so, women make up only 22.8% of business owners or employers, up from 17.4% three decades ago.
Europe and Central Asia has the highest share of women employers of any region, at 26.4%, just ahead of the Americas (26.2%) and Africa (25.8%). The Arab States are lowest at 7.8%. Note that “Europe and Central Asia” is the ILO’s regional grouping, not the EU.
The report names access to finance as a key barrier: women entrepreneurs are less likely to get financing, and when they do, it is often on worse terms than men. That matches what we see in European startup funding. Dealroom data we covered in October put women-founded startups at 11.0% of European venture capital in 2026; read our report on women-founded startups’ share of VC for the details.

More women at the top, a thinner pipeline below

Inside companies, the picture is mixed. Among enterprises that reported having a CEO, 28.2% had a woman CEO in 2025, up from 23.4% in 2013. The share with a woman board chair more than doubled, from 13.1% to 30.9%, and boards with at least 30% women rose from 38.3% to 45.5%.
Below the top, the trend runs the other way. Between 2013 and 2025 gender balance improved in senior (+1.6 points) and top management (+5.0 points) but fell in junior (−1.4 points) and middle management (−6.4 points). Women hold 30.5% of management jobs worldwide, up from 24.5% in 2000. The ILO warns that without investment in earlier career stages, today’s gains at the top are “structurally fragile”.
IndicatorEarlier2025Change
Enterprises with a woman CEO23.4% (2013)28.2%+4.8 points
Enterprises with a woman board chair13.1% (2013)30.9%+17.8 points
Boards with at least 30% women38.3% (2013)45.5%+7.2 points
Enterprises implementing gender initiatives37.4% (2018)26.5%−10.9 points
Enterprises reporting positive results from gender initiatives57.4% (2018)68.5%+11.1 points
Women’s share of business owners and employers17.4% (1995)22.8%+5.4 points
Source: ILO, Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success, 3 Nov 2026. Changes in percentage points; the 2018 share of 57.4% and the −10.9 and +5.4 figures are our calculation from the ILO’s numbers.

Small firms are where women already lead

For founders, the most useful part of the report is the split by company size. Medium-sized enterprises were most likely to have a woman CEO (32.8%), small enterprises just behind (31.9%), and large enterprises far behind (21.0%). Board chairs follow the same pattern: almost 37% of small enterprises have a woman board chair, against 35.1% of medium-sized and 22.3% of large ones.
Large companies still employ women in management more often, simply because they have more managers. 68.5% of large enterprises employ women in senior management, against 47.1% of small ones. In other words, women run small companies more often, while big companies have more layers where women can be hired but fewer women at the very top.
Measure (2025)Small (2–100)Medium (101–250)Large (over 250)
Woman CEO31.9%32.8%21.0%
Woman board chairalmost 37%35.1%22.3%
Employ women in senior management47.1%56.6%68.5%
Employ women in top management29.1%32.8%45.7%
Profit gain over 20% from initiatives (firms with gains)11.0%12.2%17.4%
Source: ILO enterprise survey 2025. Shares of surveyed enterprises; not a sample of startups or founders.

The business case is getting stronger, the effort weaker

In 2025, 68.5% of enterprises said their gender equality and diversity initiatives improved business outcomes, 11.1 points more than in 2018. Of the firms that reported higher profits from promoting women in management, 87.4% saw gains of at least 5%, and 13.4% of them saw gains above 20%. Enterprises with a woman CEO were 6.4% more likely to report better business outcomes than those led by a man; for a woman board chair, the figure was 17.5%.
Yet 74.8% of enterprises have a gender equality and diversity policy, while only 26.5% actually implement initiatives, down from 37.4% in 2018. The cuts hit two measures that companies themselves rate among the most effective: maternity leave and support programmes (−11.3 points) and equal pay (−19.6 points). Women still earn, on average, US$0.78 for every dollar men earn.
Maria Paz Anzorreguy, Director of the ILO Bureau for Employers’ Activities, put it plainly: “At a time when enterprises are competing for skills and talent, leaving women’s potential untapped makes little business sense.”

How this fits with other research on women founders

The ILO report is about enterprises and employers in general, not startups or venture-backed founders, so treat it as background rather than funding data. It sits alongside the GEM 2025/2026 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report we covered in October, which looks at early-stage activity, and our collection of female founder statistics for Europe. Taken together, they tell a consistent story: more women are starting and running businesses, but they do it with less capital and less support.

What this means for you

  1. Your first hire puts you in the statistic. The ILO counts you as an employer once you employ one person. If you are close to that step, our guide to hiring your first employee covers contracts, costs and timing.
  2. Set pay rules before you need them. Equal pay initiatives dropped the most of any measure (−19.6 points). A simple, written salary band for each role costs nothing in a small team; see our piece on the pay gap in the tech industry for why it matters.
  3. Plan parental leave for yourself and your team. Big firms are cutting maternity support, and as a founder you usually have none by default. Our guide to maternity leave while founding a startup shows how to plan it.
  4. Build a board or advisory group early. Firms with a woman board chair were 17.5% more likely to report better business outcomes. You don’t need a formal board to start; read when you need board advisors.
  5. Use the data when you ask for money. Access to finance is the barrier the ILO names first. Pair this report’s numbers with our list of grants for female entrepreneurs in Europe when you look for non-dilutive funding.
  6. Stay small on purpose if it suits you. The report shows that small and mid-sized firms are where women most often hold the top job. Bootstrapping to profit is a real path, not a consolation prize.
Want to practise running a company before you hire anyone?

The Fe/male Switch startup game takes you from idea to first paying customers in weekly quests, with an AI co-founder, so you can test decisions on pricing, hiring and team culture in a safe setting. The free trial lasts 2 weeks.

👉 Start the game

FAQ: the ILO report on women in business

What is the ILO report on women in business published in November 2026?

It is Women in Business and Management: Scaling Success, published by the International Labour Organization on 3 November 2026. It is based on a 2025 survey of 11,957 enterprises in 99 countries, earlier surveys from 2013 and 2018, and 30 years of ILO labour market data.

What share of business owners are women?

Women account for 22.8% of business owners or employers worldwide, up from 17.4% thirty years ago. The number of women employers rose from 15.1 million in 1995 to 32.7 million in 2025.

Which region has the most women employers?

Europe and Central Asia, where women are 26.4% of employers, followed by the Americas (26.2%) and Africa (25.8%). The Arab States are lowest at 7.8%.

Are women more likely to lead small or large companies?

Small and medium-sized ones. In the ILO’s 2025 survey, 31.9% of small enterprises and 32.8% of medium-sized ones had a woman CEO, against 21.0% of large enterprises.

Are companies cutting gender equality programmes?

Yes, according to the ILO. The share of enterprises implementing gender equality and diversity initiatives fell from 37.4% in 2018 to 26.5% in 2025, with the largest drops in equal pay (−19.6 points) and maternity leave and support programmes (−11.3 points).

Do gender equality initiatives improve business results?

Most companies say so: 68.5% of enterprises reported positive results in 2025, and 87.4% of those reporting profit gains saw increases of at least 5%. Firms with a woman board chair were 17.5% more likely to report better outcomes.
2026-11-04 05:16 Startup News and Trends