Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, I explored the long-term effect of entrepreneurial activities on economic growth. With both cross-sectional and panel analysis, I found that it is not the overall participation in entrepreneurial activities that relates to economic growth but only the portion engaged in opportunity-motivated entrepreneurship that explains higher growth. On the contrary, the necessity-driven entrepreneurship negatively impacts economic growth. Further, I found that the positive effect of opportunity-motivated entrepreneurship is stronger for countries that are more developed and with better gender balance in entrepreneurial business. The positive effect is also bigger in more recent time periods.