The female economy is emerging as a potent force, with global female income expected to reach $24 trillion by 2020; this is more than the revenue generated by the economies of either China or the United States. The rise of women to positions of executive leadership is compelling sellers to reexamine their business approaches.
“By 2025, women will change the workforce landscape with an average participation rate up to 40 percent, and potentially additional 250 million women workers,” said Frost & Sullivan Visionary Innovation Principal Consultant, Oliva Price-Walker.
“This will close the gender gap in labour participation rates by 25 percent, which, in turn, will have a huge economic impact across developing and developed nations.”
The Next Frontier of Growth—Women as Corporate Customers is part of Frost & Sullivan’s Visionary Innovation (Mega Trends) Growth Partnership Subscription (GPS). The study reveals that women-owned units will account for more than 40 percent of registered businesses worldwide by 2020, which translates to a large market of women corporate customers.
Asia-Pacific will have the largest female workforce, with millennials accounting for the biggest proportion of female labourers in 2025; Africa will continue to lead in female entrepreneurship.
See: Why Do You Need Gender-Balanced Teams?
It has been noted that companies with at least one woman board member perform 10 percent better than companies without women board members. Furthermore, companies with at least 30 percent of women in management positions see a 25 percent increase in profit rates on average.
“Women dominated the global marketplace by controlling nearly $31 trillion of consumer spending in 2014 and this is forecast to rise to $43 trillion by 2020,” noted Price-Walker.
“This is likely to cause a massive change in consumption and shopping behaviour, and open new opportunities in consumer goods and services businesses. Companies that best adapt to this new buyer segment will be ideally poised to grow in the next decade.”
There have been significant, positive shifts in the approach to women’s roles in society around the world. More women are now moving to leadership positions, occupying more seats in the boardroom, scaling successful companies, and even making a successful political presence.
Women can drive the world’s economy as they represent a growth market bigger than China and India combined; in the next decade, this market will be bigger than the US economy.
Also read: Gender Pay Gaps: 20 Percent HR Managers Admit Women Drawing Lesser Salary than Men for the Same Job
