Entrepreneurs in business enterprise sector, 2011-2012

Almost five per cent fewer persons set up personally owned enterprises (mostly sole proprietorships) in 2012 compared with 2011. The number of entrepreneurs in private and public limited companies increased by as much as 35 per cent from 2011 to 2012.

One out of five entrepreneurs in personally owned enterprises were immigrants

One out of five entrepreneurs in personally owned enterprises in 2012 were immigrants or Norwegian-born to immigrant parents. Within accommodation and food service activities, 57 per cent of the entrepreneurs had ‘other than Norwegian’ national background. Another industry with a large share of immigrants was transportation and storage, where 42 per cent of the entrepreneurs were immigrants.

Many private limited companies set up enterprises

Both persons and enterprises can be defined as entrepreneurs. Almost 2 900 enterprises set up new enterprises in 2012. Ninety per cent of these were private limited companies. Over 29 per cent of them belonged to real estate activities, and almost 15 per cent were within construction.

Personally owned enterprises established by men more likely to survive

One out of four personally owned enterprises established by men in 2006 were still in operation five years later. About one out of five enterprises with only female entrepreneurs survived this five-year period.

Among the private and public limited companies, there were just minor differences in the degree of survival among enterprises established by women and men.