Iowa still ranks among the bottom 10 states in the nation for economic clout of women-owned companies, according to the seventh annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report released Wednesday.

Iowa is ranked 44th among the states in growth of number of women-owned firms over the past 20 years with a 52.4 percent increase. 

By comparison, the number of women-owned firms nationally has increased by 114 percent from 1997 to 2017, more than double the 44 percent increase for all businesses. The report analyzes data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners and factors in relative changes in gross domestic product. 

Women-owned businesses now account for 39 percent of all U.S. firms, employ 8 percent of the total private sector workforce and contribute 4.2 percent of total business revenues, according to the report. 

Iowa has made progress in the past five years in the formation of women-owned firms in the past five years. When the report was first conducted in 2012, Iowa ranked 50th among the states, with a 20.6 percent growth rate from 1997, compared with a national growth rate of more than 50 percent. 

Currently, Iowa has an estimated 87,700 women-owned businesses, employing 89,500 people and contributing more than $13.9 billion to the state’s economy, according to the report commissioned by American Express Open. The report places Iowa 29th in terms of the growth of jobs created and 38th in growth of company revenues. 

Since 2012, the number of women-owned businesses in Iowa has increased by 5,355 firms, a 6.5 percent gain over the past five years.