Most Frequently Established Places in Germany (Prime Minister's Statement)
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Country Report Germany 2024/25, released on July 1, 2025, provides insights into the current entrepreneurial landscape in Germany and compares it with international counterparts. The report, a collaborative effort between the RKW Competence Center and the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute for Innovation and Value Creation in Rural Areas, offers a comprehensive analysis of the founding activities, motives, and attitudes across the 16 German federal states.
One of the key findings of the report is the reversed gender gap in entrepreneurship in the state of Brandenburg. Women in Brandenburg have a higher founding rate than men, with a rate of 8.9 percent for women compared to 3.9 percent for men, resulting in a gap of 5 percentage points.
The report also highlights the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, which have shown particularly pronounced foundation dynamics in the last five years (2020 to 2024), with foundation rates of 13.2 percent, 12.1 percent, and 11.2 percent respectively. Berlin, the federal state with the highest foundation rate, stands out with a rate more than three times higher than the federal state with the lowest rate, the Saarland, which has a rate of 3.7 percent.
The report reveals a clear distinction between the founding activities in the eastern and western German federal states. The ten western German federal states had an average founding rate of 7.8 percent from 2020 to 2024, while the five eastern German federal states had an average of 5.6 percent. Among the larger German federal states, Hesse, Bavaria, and Schleswig-Holstein are particularly foundation-active, with rates of 9.7 percent, 8.5 percent, and 8.5 percent respectively.
The focus topics of the current GEM report include Artificial Intelligence and Foundings in Rural Areas. The report also evaluates the distribution of the foundation rate in the 16 German federal states, including differences between eastern and western federal states and between men and women.
The GEM study, the only global survey that enables a spatial and temporal comparison of founding activities, motives, and attitudes in over 50 countries, offers valuable insights into the entrepreneurial landscape in Germany. The findings provide a basis for stakeholders, including foundations, policymakers, and businesses, to develop targeted initiatives aimed at addressing gender gaps and promoting entrepreneurship in Germany.
- The report delves into the realm of personal-finance for entrepreneurs, highlighting the importance of investing wisely in their business endeavors.
- In the realm of lifestyle, the report underscores the growing trend of home-and-garden startups, particularly in the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg.
- For those interested in travel, the GEM report offers insights into the entrepreneurial landscapes of international counterparts, providing a comparative analysis with Germany.
- The report suggest that the market of shopping may experience a surge with the surge in entrepreneurship, particularly in regions with higher founding rates, such as the city-states mentioned above.
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