An international study has revealed Britain is ranked as the fourth most micro-business dense country in the world, with 81 micro-businesses to every thousand people.Expect to see plenty more smiles from your nearest artisan coffee shop because the UK has made the top five ahead of countries like Portugal, Slovakia and Iceland. Perhaps even be cheeky and ask for extra cream with your hot chocolate.Notably, the Czech Republic beats the United States and Indonesia to claim the title of country with the most micro-businesses per capita – with 89 micro-businesses for every thousand Czechs. This could be something you may have noticed when you last had that night in Prague…probably not, me neither.
This entrepreneurial enthusiasm from the UK would surely even make Lord Sugar crack a smile, as micro-businesses are more willing to take risks in uncertain economic times. The initiative displayed here can only hope to continue as Britain needs to show more fortitude in order to boost our economy.
Oliver Harcourt, Head of Vistaprint UK says: “Small businesses are an essential part of the UK economy and it’s fantastic to see we have so many micro-businesses among us.
“The results from the research truly show the entrepreneurial spirit Britain embodies.
“However, it’s important we recognise the challenges micro-businesses are currently facing, including political and economic uncertainty, business rate increases and dampened consumer confidence.
“We, as the UK, need to ensure we continue to create an environment in which micro-businesses can thrive and grow.”
Ultimately, this point should be highlighted as the Global Micro-Business Impact Report, released by Vistaprint, stated whilst the UK ranks highly in entrepreneurship, micro-businesses contribute less to Gross Value Added (GVA) and employment compared to other countries. This Report investigates the impact micro-businesses have on the global economy, by combining and comparing the latest available data from research leaders such as The European Commission and OECD.
Interestingly, despite Britain’s high ranking, it actually narrowly misses the global average of 20.5 per cent(measured in GVA) micro-businesses contribution. This is stressed where it comes up just short at 20.4 per cent. Although it is still impressive that this is still a fifth of our economy, it should be stressed Norway sees two-fifths (38.1 per cent) of its GVA come from micro-businesses – the highest contribution globally.
This pause for celebration could also be further muted because UK micro-businesses employ just 17.3 per cent of the British workforce, which is just above half the global average of 32.3 per cent. Therefore, perhaps it wouldn’t be enough to get a yes from the whole cast of Dragon’s Den just yet. Comparatively, Australia’s micro-businesses employ 44.5 per cent of their workforce and Spain employs 41.1 per cent.
To conclude, the results from this report draw attention to the importance of micro-businesses to the UK economy, whilst highlighting the potential gains that could come from increased support. Significantly, while we are on the right path we still need to change things in order to develop this growth.
Click here to see how the UK compares to other economies.
THE 10 MOST MICRO-BUSINESS DENSE COUNTRIES
*Number of micro-businesses per 1000 people
1. Czech Republic (89)
2. Indonesia (86)
3. United States of America (86)
4. United Kingdom (81)
5. Portugal (72)
6. Slovakia (69)
7. Iceland (68)
8. Liechtenstein (67)
9. Sweden (66)
10. Paraguay (62)
