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Commission reports show continued growth of European SMEs and highlight challenges for women entrepreneurs

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The European Commission has published the Annual Report on European small and medium enterprises (SME) 2025/2026 and a new report on women entrepreneurs in Europe. Both reports provide new data to support future policies, initiatives, and funding measures for small and medium businesses.

The Annual Report shows that Europe's 34 million SMEs recorded solid growth in 2025 while continuing to recover from recent crises. The number of companies rose by 1.8% while their real value-added grew by 2.5% and employment by 1.0%. 

The report provides an overview of options that could boost the productivity of small and medium-sized businesses, such as the uptake of new technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), where SMEs continue to lag behind larger firms. In 2025, AI technologies were used by 55.0% of large enterprises, compared to 30.4% of medium enterprises and 17.0% of small enterprises. 

The report also examines additional challenges faced by SMEs in value chains during times of disruptive technological change and its implications for SME productivity, using the automotive sector as a case study.

The report ‘Women Entrepreneurs in Europe: Data, Barriers, and Recommendations for Support' looks at women's entrepreneurship across the EU and identifies the challenges faced by women-led businesses in starting and scaling up their businesses, as well as difficulties women entrepreneurs face in accessing finance. It finds that only 33% of business owners in the EU are women. Furthermore, they are concentrated in traditional, female-coded sectors such as personal services (69%), health and social work (65%), and education (57%), while remaining under-represented in other sectors. The report concludes with five targeted recommendations to strengthen the enabling environment and unlock the untapped potential of women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses.

The reports will be discussed at the SME Envoys Network.

More information

SME Performance Review webpage

Report on Women Entrepreneurs in Europe

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