Venture capital investment as % of GDP
Total VC investment as a share of GDP.
EU vs US vs D9+ over time
% of GDP
OECD market statistics through 2025, same definition for every region. China is not covered by this dataset.
The story
Venture capital is the money that lets young companies grow before they are profitable. It pays for product development, hiring, international expansion and the commercialisation of new technology, which makes it a load-bearing input to the innovation economy.
This indicator measures venture capital investment as a share of GDP, so economies of different sizes compare fairly. More investment means more capital available for ambitious startups and scaleups. Europe's venture market has grown substantially over the past decade; it still trails the United States, where startups can reach growth financing at every stage of their life.
Why it matters
Venture capital turns promising ideas into competitive companies. It lets entrepreneurs invest for long-term growth, take technological risks and scale faster than traditional financing would ever allow. Most of today's largest technology companies were venture-backed in their early years.
A strong venture ecosystem also compounds. Successful investments produce experienced founders, attract international investors and recycle capital into the next generation of startups. Venture capital is financing, and it is also a driver of entrepreneurship, innovation and long-term productivity growth in its own right.
Policy context
Access to growth capital sits at the centre of Europe's competitiveness agenda. Early-stage investment has improved considerably; the recent initiatives all point at what comes next: deeper capital markets, more institutional investment and stronger later-stage financing, so innovative companies can scale inside Europe.
Venture capital is one part of the financing system, but it is the part that carries high-growth sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and deep tech. How Europe strengthens it will help decide whether more innovative companies stay, grow and compete globally from Europe.
How this number is calculated
OECD venture capital market statistics (all stages, % of GDP), annual through 2025, same definition for every region. The EU and D9+ figures are GDP-weighted aggregates of member countries; China is not covered by this dataset. Definitions differ slightly between national associations; trends are more comparable than levels.