Fear-of-Failure Index (GEM)
Share of adults who do not start a business for fear of failure.
Sourced from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
This indicator is being connected to its source. We never show placeholder numbers: the chart appears here the moment verified data is in place, with its source and date attached.
The story
Ask adults who see a business opportunity why they do not act on it, and Europe's most common answer is fear of failing. Survey after survey puts European fear-of-failure rates above American ones. The gap is cultural as much as economic, and it operates before any law or fund can reach it.
Why it matters
Risk appetite is the invisible input to every founding statistic on this platform. A population that self-censors its founders needs no regulatory barriers to underperform; the pipeline thins before it starts.
Policy context
Culture responds to incentives slower than markets do, but it responds: second-chance bankruptcy rules, the social status of failed founders, and visible local success stories all move this number over a decade. Lower is better, and it is scored that way.
How this number is calculated
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor adult population survey: the share of adults who see good opportunities but would not start a business for fear of failure. Annual. Survey-based, so levels carry sampling noise; treat multi-year trends as the signal. Lower is better and the verdict logic respects that.
Source & cadence
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