Experts assessed the development of women's entrepreneurship in Russia

In January 2026, 6.2 million women entrepreneurs were registered in Russia. This is evidenced by the results of a study conducted by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Avito platform.

Currently, women make up 41.7% of all SMEs in Russia, that is, almost every second business in the sector.

"The data analysis revealed three stable trends. The first is awareness: women take fewer risks, study more, and rely on social and creative components. They take out loans less often and close them faster. Only 38% of the recipients of borrowed funds are women. The second is the impact on demographics: research has shown that starting your own business has a positive effect on the decision to have children. Most often, women decide to start a business in their second maternity leave. 53% of women start a business after the age of 35, when they already have children. And the third is continuity: almost a million Russians are building a business for a long time and want to pass it on to their children," said Tatyana Ilyushnikova, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia.

A similar trend is observed among Avito sellers — the number of female entrepreneurs in the Goods category increased by 102% last year, while the figure for men was 84%.

"This dynamic opens up prospects for a gradual alignment of the gender composition of entrepreneurs on the platform, although today the proportion of women reaches an impressive 37%. At the same time, women take a broader view of their business and connect more than one channel, but add sales through social networks, messengers, and live broadcasts, creating entire communities around them," said Alexey Li, commercial director of Avito Goods.

At the beginning of 2026, more than half of the entrepreneurs on the platform are women aged 35-44.

According to the study, 3.4 million women work as self-employed, 1.9 million are registered as sole proprietors, and another 904,000 run legal entities. At the same time, at Avito Goods, 60% of businesswomen choose the LLC format.

According to the survey, among the Russian regions, the largest number of women entrepreneurs working as sole proprietors and self-employed live in large economic centers.

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