The survey measures early-stage entrepreneurial activity in terms of the percentage of the adult population that is in the process of starting a new business or has had one for a maximum of three years and a half.

The index for Slovenia fell to 6.37% last year from 6.85% in 2017. This compares to the European average of 7.5% in 2018.

The Maribor Faculty of Economics and Business, which participates in the research for the survey, attributes the decrease to people choosing employment over a business venture in the face of a high demand for labour.

Angola, part of the group of low-income countries, had the highest rate, 41%, among the 48 world economies included in the survey.

Meanwhile, Slovenia is faring poorly when it comes to gender equality in early-stage entrepreneurial activity. The gender gap in Slovenia is the second biggest among European countries, with women involved in only 30.1% of early-stage entrepreneurial endeavours.

"It looks like additional attention will have to be dedicated to this field in Slovenia, so that better conditions are created for greater inclusion of women in entrepreneurship," the head of the Slovenia research team Miroslav Rebernik assessed.

The smallest gap in Europe is to be found in Spain (47% of women) and Bulgaria (46.5%), while it is the biggest in Sweden (29.7%).

The general country profile for Slovenia notes a drop in nascent entrepreneurs from 4.02% in 2017 to 2.84%, but points out that the share of new entrepreneurs increased from 2.96% to 3.64%, "meaning that the survival rate of entrepreneurial endeavours was higher than in the past".

"The good news is that some important indicators have improved: perceived opportunities increased from 34.60% to 42.17%, entrepreneurship as a good career choice from 55.12% to 58.43%, high status to successful entrepreneurs from 73.42% to 75.78%, and media attention for entrepreneurship from 72.65% to 77.19%," the reports concludes for Slovenia.