The most recent figures from the National Urban Economic Census of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) reshape a traditional image of the Colombian economy: today, entrepreneurship has a female face.
For the first time, women are not only participating massively in productive activity, but are also leading the majority of businesses in the country, marking a quiet yet profound shift in the business structure.
In addition, the study explains that for every 1,000 inhabitants there are 38.5 business units in the country, of which approximately 219,000 are street vendors who are part of the informal economy.
Women lead 60% of businesses in Colombia
The National Urban Economic Census, the most ambitious statistical operation carried out in decades to measure productive activity in Colombia, confirms that the country’s business fabric is largely sustained by initiatives led by women. This result is part of a broader transformation in the urban economy, where smaller-scale productive units play a decisive role.
DANE designed this census as a tool to understand the structure and dynamics of businesses in cities and populated centers, with the aim of guiding public policy and private decisions in the coming years. In this context, female leadership emerges as one of the most relevant findings, not only because of its scale, but also for what it implies in terms of economic inclusion.
Thus, of the 1.1 million businesses surveyed, 613,953 are in the hands of women, compared to 576,983 led by men. The difference, while not overwhelming in absolute terms, is significant proportionally: six out of every ten economic units are female-managed, representing a 3.1% advantage and nearly 37,000 more businesses under women’s leadership.
Behind these figures lies a common characteristic: most of the businesses surveyed are small, many of them linked to the popular economy. Neighborhood shops, personal services, informal sales, and family-run ventures make up a large part of this productive universe, where women have found a pathway to income and autonomy.
This pattern partly explains why female leadership is so high. In contexts where access to formal employment remains limited, especially for women, entrepreneurship becomes a direct alternative for generating income. It is no coincidence that sectors such as commerce and services, which dominate the urban economy, are also those with the highest female participation.
Cuando piensas en un negocio, ¿piensas en quién está detrás? 👀
Edad, sexo, educación…
La economía también se entiende mirando a las personas que la hacen posible.El Censo Económico ya tiene esos datos 👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/ke22lNs8uF
— DANE Colombia (@DANE_Colombia) May 4, 2026
Between autonomy and precariousness
However, the leadership data cannot be read solely as a sign of progress. It also reflects structural tensions. Many of the businesses led by women operate under conditions of informality, with low productivity and limited access to financing or social protection.
Given this reality, and while recognizing the central role of women in the country’s real economy, it is necessary to design policies that improve the quality of these ventures, preventing female leadership from being confined to low-profit segments.
The advance of women in business leadership contrasts with other gaps that still persist in the labor market. Female participation remains lower than male participation in formal employment, and differences in income and access to opportunities continue to shape the landscape.
In this sense, the rise of female entrepreneurship can be interpreted both as a sign of empowerment and as a response to structural limitations. Many women start businesses not necessarily out of opportunity, but out of necessity, given the lack of stable employment alternatives.
Despite this, DANE Director Piedad Urdinola highlighted the significance of the data. “The greater participation of women as owners of economic units is not a minor fact, but an indicator of their increasingly visible role in productive dynamics,” she explained.
A new productive map
The census also makes it possible to gauge the size and diversity of Colombia’s business fabric. Beyond large companies, the urban economy is made up of millions of small-scale economic units that, taken together, sustain a significant portion of employment and daily activity in cities.
After more than three decades without this type of measurement, the country now has a detailed snapshot of its productive structure. This new map reveals not only how many businesses exist, but also who is behind them, where they operate, and under what conditions.
The fact that six out of every ten businesses are led by women should have direct implications for the design of economic policy. Financing programs, training, formalization, and market access must incorporate a clearer gender approach if they are to be effective.
Moreover, the census opens the door to broader discussions about the development model. If the foundation of the economy lies in microbusinesses, many of them informal and led by women, the strategy cannot focus solely on the growth of large companies.