Data sets and entrepreneur-related surveys from recent years indicate that the Caribbean country of Jamaica has now become one top nations in the world for entrepreneurial activity.

Data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the years from 2005 to 2008 shows that Jamaicans are amongst the most entrepreneurial people in the world, and that the level of local entrepreneurship in Jamaica is even higher than in the major economies of the US and China.

However, the survey also found that necessity-driven entrepreneurship in Jamaica is now more common than opportunity entrepreneurship. This means that many business owners are in positions where they can’t afford to see their companies fail, because they are highly dependent on the revenue which they generate.

But despite this, many analysts are impressed with entrepreneurial progress in the island nation. More recent GEM data also shows that Jamaica was one of only a few countries which saw equal participation in entrepreneurship by men and women in 2011.

The country has already produced a number of different entrepreneurs of both genders. One example is Jerome Campbell, who recently launched a Blackberry (Public, TSE:RIM) Messenger Application in Jamaica named Shop PING! The App is designed to make it easier for people to view and post classified ads on their smart phones.

Other entrepreneurial successes may well follow, particularly since the opening of a new entrepreneurship centre last year – The Sir Richard Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship – which aims to help budding entrepreneurs develop and achieve their business goals.

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net