Center for Women’s Business Research for the National Women’s Business Council
First published September 2001
Women-owned businesses have continued to show tremendous growth during the last decade, outpacing the growth of all businesses in number, sales, and employment. Today, there are over 5.4 million majority-owned, privately-held women-owned firms, including one in six owned by women of color.1 Between 1992 and 1997, the number of women-owned firms increased by 16%, 2½ times faster than all U.S. businesses, employment expanded at three times the rate of all businesses, and revenues grew one and a half times the national average.
This publication is a single-source document of statistical information about women’s business ownership in the United States. This document updates and expands the National Women’s Business Council’s (NWBC) 1994 Compendium of National Statistics on Women-Owned Businesses in the U.S., also prepared by the Center for Women’s Business Research. It includes the most sought-after facts and figures on women’s entrepreneurship in the U.S., and includes a bibliography of both source references and recommended publications.