Statistics on Asian Women-Owned Businesses

Asian and Pacific Islander (API)* women entrepreneurs continue to make sizable gains in the United States. According to the Center for Women's Business Research's "Asian and Pacific Islander Women-Owned Businesses in the United States, 2002: A Fact Sheet," there was a 45% increase in the number of firms Asian and Pacific Islander women own between 1997 and 2002. An estimated 358,503 majority-owned, privately held firms owned by Asian and Pacific Islander women in the United States were also reported, accounting for $49.1 billion in sales, and employing more than 370,000 people.

Other trends in growth among API women-owned businesses between 1997 and 2002 include:

  • The number of employees working for Asian and Pacific Islander women-owned firms in the U.S. increased by 18%, and sales rose by 29%.

  • Approximately one-third (30%) of all minority women-owned firms in the U.S. are owned by Asian or Pacific Islanders.

  • Asian and Pacific Islander women-owned firms represent 6% of all privately-held, majority-owned women-owned firms in the United States. Asian and Pacific Islander women business owners also account for 10% of the total employment of women-owned firms, and 9% of sales.

  • API women business owners are also more likely to have employees than are other women-owned firms. Nearly one-fourth (23%) of Asian and Pacific-Islander women-owned firms employee at least one person other than the owner, compared to 16% of women-owned firms overall.

  • Over one-third (36%) of all firms owned by persons of Asian American descent are owned by women; Asian women-owned firms employ 30% of the workers in Asian-owned firms and generate 26% of the sales.

  • The 10 states with the greatest number of Asian and Pacific Islander women-owned firms (based on the number of firms, employment and sales) are: California, New York, Texas, Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, Virginia, Illinois, Washington and Georgia. These states also account for over 75% of all the API women-owned firms in the U.S.

  • As of 2002, the 10 states with the fastest growth in the number of Asian and Pacific Islander women-owned firms were: Maine; Tennessee; Montana; Oklahoma; Kentucky; West Virginia; Wyoming; Vermont; Alabama; Idaho.

  • The service sector (52%) accounts for over half of the businesses API women own. Approximately 15.2% are in the retail trade, while an estimated 10% are in Finance/Insurance/Real Estate, Transportation/Communications/Utilities, and Wholesale trades.

  • The states where Asian and Pacific Islander women-owned firms comprise the greatest share of all women-owned firms are: Hawaii (55%), California (14%), New York (11%), Virginia (9%), Nevada, New Jersey, Maryland and Washington (tied - 8%), and Texas, Georgia, Alaska and the District of Columbia (tied - 6%).

  • Non-traditional industries continue to be the areas with the greatest growth rates for Asian and Pacific Islander women-owned firms. Businesses in the agriculture/forestry/fishing sector grew by 70%, and those in transportation/communications/utilities increased by 56%.

*The U.S. Bureau of the Census separated Asian and Pacific Islanders from American Indian and Alaskan Natives in their "1997 Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises." In previous surveys, both groups were combined into one category.

Ethnic groups included in the Asian/Other U.S. Census Bureau statistics are: Chinese (28%), Asian Indian (18%), Korean (15%), Vietnamese (11%), Japanese (9.4%), Filipino (9.3%), Other Asian (8%), and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (2%).

Number, Employment, Sales and Percent Change Among Asian Women Owned Firms by Industry: 1997 to 2002

1997(1) 2002(2) Change in %
Total US
Number of Firms 247,966 358,503 44.8
Employment 313,303 370,101 18.0
Sales ($000) 38,100,700 49,068,703 20.0
Agriculture
Number of Firms 1,878 2,858 70.3
Employment 1,750 3,759 114.8
Sales ($000) 133,715 259,10793.8
Mining
Number of Firms 140 129 -8.2
Employment D D D
Sales ($000) D D D
Construction
Number of Firms 2,972 3,418 15.0
Employment 4,822 3,127 -32.3
Sales ($000) 711,228 562,784 -20.9
Manufacturing
Number of Firms 6,240 6,774 8.6
Employment 37,730 41,128 D
Sales ($000) 2,443,344 2,510,094 2.7
TCPU(3)
Number of Firms 5,628 8,803 56.4
Employment 7,578 18,400 142.8
Sales ($000) 757,811 1,296,468 71.1
Wholesale Trade
Number of Firms 8,185 9,963 21.7
Employment 24,275 31,041 27.9
Sales ($000) 11,019,906 13,022,510 18.2
Retail Trade
Number of Firms 48,089 54,370 13.1
Employment 107,776 128,815 19.5
Sales ($000) 9,318,712 11,504,824 23.5
FIRE(4)
Number of Firms 18,757 17,171 -8.5
Employment 5,600 1,975 -64.7
Sales ($000) 1,362,952 729,524 -46.5
Services
Number of Firms 133,721 185,314 38.6
Employment 119,079 121,897 2.4
Sales ($000) 11,106,181 14,333,170 29.1

Source: National Foundation for Women Business Owners, using published information by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
  1. Estimate of 1997 totals excluding C corporations and 50% woman-owned businesses, using 1992 ratios.
  2. Estimate of 2002 totals using 1997 ratios.
  3. Transportation, Communications and Utilities.
  4. Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
D = Data withheld by Census Bureau to avoid disclosing data of individual companies.

States with the Greatest Number of Asian and Pacific Islander Women Owned Businesses, 1997 to 2002

State Number of Firms Employment Sales ($000) Ranking by
Number of Firms
US Total 358,503 787,200 $49,069,703
California 103,778 133,775 $19,077,756 1
New York 48,262 20,692 $ 3,287,276 2
Texas 27,611 23,027 $ 3,527,111 3
Florida 14,303 7,685 $ 1,102,787 4
Hawaii 14,071 17,353 $ 1,908,448 5
New Jersey 13,994 31,845 $ 4,492,572 6
Virginia 12,827 9,336 $ 865,154 7
Illinois 11,557 18,829 $ 1,940,570 8
Washington 11,324 8,140 $ 1,012,916 9
Georgia 11,224 5,331 $ 795,263 10

Top 10 States with the Fastest Growth Rates in the Number of Asian and Pacific Islander Women Owned Businesses, 1997 to 2002

State % - Change in Number % - Change in Sales % - Change in
Employment
US Total 44.6 28.8 18.0
Maine 1242.4 91.2 61.1
Tennessee 202.3 111.1 D
Montana 194.4 D D
Oklahoma 194.0 179.3 126.3
Kentucky 192.5 0.9 -25.3
West Virginia 186.4 101.5 44.2
Wyoming 181.2 D D
Vermont 178.2 D D
Alabama 147.9 71.9 29.0
Idaho 143.2 210.0 -7.4


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