The number of active businesses owned by women in Berane rose to 216 in 2025, from 153 in 2022, according to a BI Consulting analysis presented at the Top Women Business Montenegro 2026 forum. Women owned more than 25% of the municipality’s active businesses that year, while the analysis counted 1,346 companies owned or managed by women across Montenegro’s northern region.
The Berane total increased from 153 in 2022 to 163 in 2023 and 174 in 2024, before reaching 216 in 2025. The figures show a rising number of women-owned businesses in the municipality, outside Montenegro’s largest urban centres.
The local figure refers to businesses owned by women, not those they manage. MONSTAT’s publication on ownership does not include entrepreneurs as a separate legal form, so the number of women engaged in self-employment may be higher than the ownership data show.
Montenegro had 35,744 registered companies in 2025. Of these, 16,614 were owned or managed by women, representing 26% of the total, the BI Consulting analysis found.
Women-owned companies accounted for 17.67% of total revenue, although that share had risen from 2024. The revenue figures show that having more businesses does not automatically mean equivalent economic strength, market position or ability to expand.
Training and local support
Support for women entrepreneurs in the north has included training, mentoring and municipal funding. German organisation Help ran its “On-the-job training and mentoring for women and youth” programme with local partners and European Union support from October 2016 to October 2017. The programme covered Berane and the north-eastern region.
Help’s programme aimed to improve employment prospects for women and young people through practical training, business-idea development and support for self-employment. It had a total value of 211,143 euros, of which the European Union provided 189,580 euros. Ten participants received mentoring, and five registered their own businesses.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ran EmpowHER Montenegro from 2024 to February 2026 in Berane, Bijelo Polje and Plav. The programme targeted women in rural areas, with support focused particularly on agriculture, green entrepreneurship and rural tourism.
Through the programme, 63 women took part in entrepreneurship training and 18 entrepreneurs received specialised training in sustainable tourism. A total of 300 women participated in networking activities and events. The results do not mean that 63 new companies were established; they show the programme’s focus on knowledge, mentoring and connections for women’s businesses.
Berane Municipality allocated 30,000 euros from its local budget in 2025 to support 17 women entrepreneurs. The funding came from the municipal budget, not European funds.
Access to finance and markets
Support in the north includes local projects, European projects and international programmes. The available information leaves open how accessible that support is to women starting businesses, how straightforward administrative procedures are and how often business ideas become sustainable enterprises.
Turning an idea into a stable source of income requires access to start-up capital and favourable financing, help preparing documents, links to markets and ongoing advice. Programmes such as IPARD offer investment opportunities in agriculture and rural development, while potential applicants need timely information, well-prepared projects and expert support through application and implementation.
For Berane and the north, the European perspective also involves whether women can improve production, register farms, develop tourism offerings, sell products in new markets and hire additional workers. Young women entrepreneurs in Berane need equal opportunities to access knowledge, financing and business contacts as their counterparts in more developed areas.
