November 19, 2018 — Women make up over half of Croatia’s population yet represent less than a quarter of its entrepreneurs, according to a new study released by Croatia’s financial agency (FINA) in commemoration of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day.

The figures show women own and operate about 21.9 percent of the 112,084 enterprises in Croatia, compared to the 51.4 percent owned by men.

The majority (56 percent) of female entrepreneurs have set up shop within the service industry. The rest are mostly concentrated in the education, health and welfare sectors.

While the figures may seem low, they are an improvement. The current 21 percent figure is higher than 2011’s 18 percent; women increased their share of Croatia’s private businesses over the last two years, after a slight fall in 2015.

But which Croatian county is the most progressive toward’s female business owners? That title belongs to Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska county, in Northeast Croatia, which has an higher-that-average rate of women-owned businesses. To find the other end of the spectrum, just look at the neighboring county.

Only 18 percent of businesses in Vriovitičko-Podravska County are owned by women, the lost in the country.

The overall number of women-owned businesses improves slightly if you include “mixed” enterprises, owned by both sexes, which make up nearly 11 percent of all businesses in Croatia.

The combined 32 percent those companies make up still doesn’t come close to the number of companies owned by men. The remaining companies are owned by legal entities, or their ownership could not be determined.