THE 7,100 business launched in Scotland by women in 2015 contributed £268 million to the UK economy that year, but female entrepreneurs still trail behind their male counterparts, responsible for just one third of the total businesses set up in the year.

Research undertaken by The Royal Bank of Scotland in partnership with Development Economics, found that female entrepreneurs in Glasgow set up 1,900 businesses, joining 1,400 in Edinburgh in 2015.

The number of businesses started by women UK-wide has fallen after nearly doubling between 2009 and 2012.

Scotland’s cities still lag behind the likes of Manchester, with 5,200 businesses and Birmingham, with 5,100, according to the research, which is based on data produced by the Global Entrepreneur Monitor.

London alone saw 33,200 women-led businesses created in 2015.

Female entrepreneurs set up almost 1.2million business between 2002 and 2015, according to the research.

Despite the growth in female entrepreneurship since 2009, the number of women setting up a business in the UK still lags behind countries such as Canada and the US, which RBS said was costing the UK £1bn a year.

The proportion of the UK’s female working population starting a business increased from 3.7 per cent to 7.1 per cent between 2009 and 2012. It was less than five per cent in 2015.

Alison Rose, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland corporate, commercial and private banking, said: “We know entrepreneurs are vital to the economy and it’s fantastic to see just how much women contribute, but it’s clear we need to do more to power this growth in the same way our global counterparts do.”