South West RDA: Women's Enterprise - Regional facts and figures

17.6% of all businesses in the South West are led by women, against a UK average figure of 16% (DTI's Small Business Survey 2005)
8.4% of working age women in employment in the South West are self-employed (compared with 17.7% of men). This is against a UK figure of 7.1% (and 17% for men). (ONS Annual Population Survey statistics, April 2005 to March 2006)
The South West has the highest levels of female entrepreneurial activity in the UK. However men are still 44% more likely to be entrepreneurially active than women in the region. (GEM, 2006)
The majority of self-employed women in the South West are self-employed part time, compared to men where the majority of self-employed are full time (The Regional State of Women's Enterprise in England, 2005)
Women's entrepreneurship has grown in most regions of the UK since 2003 and substantially in the South West and the East of England (Stairways to growth, GEM 2006)
Female entrepreneurial activity is nearly twice as high for rural women as it is for urban women at nearly 60% of rural male entrepreneurial activity (Stairways to growth, GEM 2006)