10 Best Countries for Women Entrepreneurs in 2026: Where to Build and Scale

From Canada’s dedicated Women Entrepreneurship Strategy to the U.S. federal procurement program, read about the top countries for women entrepreneurs that offer women founders practical pathways to launch, finance, and scale businesses.

Where a woman builds her business can matter as much as what she builds.

A woman’s choice of location for her venture determines her access not only to funding and government contracts but also to mentors, child care, markets, and even opportunities for international expansion. In some countries, these resources are widely available and legally protected. In others, they are limited, difficult to reach, or out of reach altogether. Although female entrepreneurs are expanding their global footprint, the entrepreneurship landscape remains imbalanced, and where a woman starts out often shapes how far she can go.

The latest edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Women’s Entrepreneurship Report 2024/2025, which draws on data from 51 countries and 161,528 respondents, shows that women are less likely than men to start new businesses and 47 percent more likely to close them for familial or personal reasons.

The policy landscape matters as well. According to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2026 report, women worldwide currently enjoy, on average, less than two-thirds of the rights that men do, and only half of the policies and institutions needed to enforce those rights exist.

The best countries for women entrepreneurs, therefore, are not necessarily those with the largest number of female-owned businesses. They are the places where women can realistically found, finance, market, employ, contract, and grow.

Below is a list of 10 countries widely regarded as the most conducive to women establishing and running new ventures.