32,000 people in Ireland established new businesses in 2013
L to R: Pat O’Neill, Zenith Adhesive Components (ZAC), Tom Hayes, Enterprise Ireland, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD, and Theresa Keady, EC Charging.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) provides an annual assessment of the entrepreneurial activity, aspirations and attitudes of individuals across a wide range of countries and is the largest on-going study of entrepreneurial dynamics in the world.
The report for Ireland in 2013 has been published and features an array of interesting findings. Among these, the report shows that 32,000 people started new businesses in Ireland in 2013, and that one in eleven of the adult population are engaged in some form of early stage entrepreneurial activity.
The GEM report is supported by Enterprise Ireland, Forfás and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The authors of the report are Paula Fitzsimons of Fitzsimons Consulting, who is the National GEM Co-ordinator, and Dr Colm O'Gorman, Professor of Entrepreneurship, DCU Business School.
Findings of the 2013 GEM research also show that the rate of early stage entrepreneurial activity is at its highest since the onset of the economic crisis. The pipeline of future entrepreneurs also looks very strong as those indicating that they intend to start a business in the next three years increased significantly in 2013 and is now at its highest level since Ireland first became involved in GEM research in 2000.
Welcoming the report, Minister Richard Bruton TD said: "As I have said before, we have great entrepreneurs in Ireland - we just don't have enough of them. Start-up businesses account for around two thirds of new jobs created in Ireland. That is why we in Government, through the Action Plan for Jobs, have put in place measures to support more start-up activity - for example the establishment of the Local Enterprise Offices and the new county-based competition to find Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur."
Download GEM Report 2013
Learn about the Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur Competition