Entrepreneurship Fear of Failure on the Rise, According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report

Around the world, the number of people deterred from starting a business because of fear it might fail is increasing, according to the GEM 2024/2025 Global Report titled Entrepreneurship Reality Check, released today at a special event to launch the report in Bilbao, Spain. Those who take the leap are uncertain about the expected role of artificial intelligence in their businesses.
More than 150,000 people participated in the GEM Adult Population Survey (APS) in both 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2024, across 50 and 51 economies respectively. In 2019, 44% of those surveyed agreed that they would not start a business for fear it might fail; by 2024 this proportion had increased to 49%.
In both years, a significant percentage of the 150,000 plus people agreed they saw good opportunities to start a business (some 66,000 in 2019 and 60,000 in 2024). Amongst these individuals, those that stated they would not actually start a business to leverage those same opportunities for fear it might fail increased from 42% in 2019 to 47% in 2024.
Between 2019 to 2024, the number of economies in which at least two in five people seeing good opportunities, yet would not start a business for fear it might fail increased markedly from 34 out of 50 (68%) to 43 out of 51 (84%).
The Global Report authorship team of 12 GEM researchers located in nine countries collectively agree that it is important to develop robust support systems, including financial assistance, accessible training, mentorship programmes and simplified regulations to reduce the risks.