Analytics, Business, Education and Science, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Markets and Companies

The study reveals that 48% of Latvian residents believe that they have the necessary skills to lead a company, while 23% of respondents said that they are planning on starting a business in the coming three years, which is the third highest indicator in the European Union (EU).

Meanwhile, 13.3% of Latvian residents are already involved in business activities in early stage, which is the highest indicator in the EU (in Estonia – 13.1%, in Lithuania – 12.4%).

The proportion of new male entrepreneurs has slightly reduced in the past two years (from 19% to 17%). The average Latvian businessmen of early stage in 2013 was a 34-year-old man of Latvian ethnicity who has acquired vocational high school education, lives in Riga and heads a company which deals with providing services.

At the same time, the proportion of early stage female business owners has increased – compared with 2012, when 8% of women aged between 18 and 64 started a business, the number of women who turned to business activities in 2013 was 10%. This is the highest indicator among all European countries that were included in the study (Estonia – 9%, Switzerland – 8%, Sweden – 6%, Germany – 4%).