Business start-ups and early-stage entrepreneurship

Individual efforts to create new firms are reflected in the total early-stage activity (TEA) index. The TEA index is a measure of the prevalence of individuals engaged in the start-up or gestation phase or in managing a young business, less than 42 months old. The GEM adult population survey identifies such individuals who will own part of the business and have been active in implementing the new firm. TEA reflects the percentage of the adult population (18-64 years) who are active in the creation of a new business. With an overall rate of 13.6% TEA rate, New Zealand maintains its rank as the most entrepreneurial country amongst the developed countries. New Zealand's rate of individual entrepreneurship was exceeded by four developing countries (listed on the left side of the Figure 1). They include Uganda, Venezuela, Argentina, and Chile. Although New Zealand may rank higher, statistically there is no difference between New Zealand and Brazil, USA, Australia, China, and Iceland.