As of January 2025, there were around 4.39 million self-employed workers in the United Kingdom. During this provided time-period, self-employment in the UK has grown steadily, from a low of just 3.2 million in December 2000, to a peak of over five million at the start of 2020. After the COVID-19 pandemic, however, self-employment has fallen to levels not seen since the middle of 2015 and has struggled to recover to its pre-pandemic peak. Demographics of the self-employed There has consistently been more men self-employed than women in the UK, with recent figures showing that over 2.8 million men, and over 1.5 million women were self-employed. As of 2024, the most likely age group to be self-employed were those aged 65 or over, with over a third of workers in this age group self-employed. In the same year, around 16.5 percent of workers in London were self-employed, compared with the UK average of 13.1 percent, making London the region with the highest rate of self-employment in the UK. Self-employment support scheme In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government unveiled various measures to mitigate the economic costs to businesses and individuals. For self-employed workers, this manifested itself as the Self-Employment Income-Support Scheme, which was in its third iteration, or tranche, by December 2020. During the first tranche, which ran from March to July, there were 2.7 million claims made in total, with claims to the second and third tranches numbering 2.4 million and 1.7 million respectively. As of December 13, 2020, the overall value of these claims amounted to 14.5 billion British pounds.

As of 2023, Italy was the European country with the greatest number of self-employed workers, followed by the UK, France, and Poland. Self-employment is often linked to family businesses and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which Italy in particular has a large number of. Iceland, Luxembourg, and Malta have the the smallest number of self-employed persons, with less than 50,000 of these workers in each country.

Graph and download economic data for Employment Level - Nonagriculture, Self-Employed Workers, Unincorporated (LNS12032192) from Jan 1948 to Feb 2025 about unincorporated, nonagriculture, self-employed, workers, 16 years +, household survey, employment, and USA.

This table contains statistics regarding income and capital of self-employed persons in the Netherlands. A distinction is made between, on the one hand, persons for whom self-employment provides for the main source of income, and on the other hand all persons with income from self-employed work. The figures in this table are broken down by type of self-employed person, sector, gender, age, migration background, position in the household, and by income and wealth decile groups.

All statistics in this table are at the individual level, this includes capital; (corporate) assets are summed per household and then assigned to all household members, thus serving as a measure of personal prosperity. The sample date for both population and capital is the first of January of the reporting year. For the older years 2007 up to and including 2010, capital is sampled on the first of January of the year following the reporting year.

The General Business Register (ABR) is used to determine the sector (SBI) of self-employed persons. The ABR has been subject to various trend breaks in the period 2007-2011. This leads to a sharp decrease in the number of self-employed persons in the financial services (sector K) in 2010. Therefore caution is advised when consulting sector trends or comparing numbers across sectors.

Data available from: 2007.

Status of the figures: The figures for 2006 to 2022 are final. The figures for 2023 are preliminary.

Changes as of November 1 2024: Figures for 2022 have been finalized. Figures for 2023 have been added.

Changes as of March 2022: Figures on the wealth of the self-employed in 2010 were incorrect, and have been removed. For this year the wealth of 2011 applies, as 2011 marks a shift in sample date from December 31 to January 1. Missing wealth figures for 2013 have been supplemented.

Changes as of July 2021: Revised data for 2006 to 2019 have been added. Due to the availability of new sources and improvements in the methodology, wealth figures have changed. Additionally everyone with personnel is now classified as self-employed with employee (formerly this distinction was based solely on the enterprise constituting the main source of income).

When will new figures be published? New figures for 2024 will be published in December 2025.

There are approximately 27.97 million self-employed people working in the European Union, as of 2023. Between 2002 and 2023, the year with the highest number of self-employed workers in the European Union was 2007, when there were estimated to be 29.2 million. After dropping by approximately one million people during the Coronavirus pandemic, the number of self-employed people has shown a strong resurgence in 2023, particularly amongst women.

Global Number of Self-Employed Persons in Employment Services by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Forecast: Number of Self-Employed Persons in Employment Services in the US 2023 - 2027 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Number of Self Employed Persons: Region: Belgium data was reported at 878,134.000 Person in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 860,242.000 Person for 2021. Number of Self Employed Persons: Region: Belgium data is updated yearly, averaging 718,828.500 Person from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2022, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 878,134.000 Person in 2022 and a record low of 688,816.000 Person in 2003. Number of Self Employed Persons: Region: Belgium data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bank of Belgium. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belgium – Table BE.G023: Number of Self Employed Persons: by Region and Industry.

The number of self-employed workers in the Netherlands reached 1.38 million in 2022, with the number of people in this type of employment steadily growing since 2010. The majority of Dutch workers who are self-employed are those with no employees, with over one million of them in 2021, compared with 313,000 who did have employees.

Forecast: Number of Self-Employed Persons in Employment Services in Germany 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Forecast: Number of Self-Employed Persons in Employment Services in France 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

The indicator shows the number of self-employed and carers subject to the National Institute of Social Insurance for Self-Employed Workers (INASTI) as at 31 December.

See also: Other indicators relating to self-employment are available under the theme ‘Economic activity’ and focus instead on industries.

Forecast: Number of Self-Employed Persons in Beverages in the US 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Employees and self-employed, by industry sectors and sex, UK, published quarterly, non-seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

Slovakia Employment: Number of Self-Employed data was reported at 372.400 Person th in Mar 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 383.000 Person th for Dec 2017. Slovakia Employment: Number of Self-Employed data is updated quarterly, averaging 286.400 Person th from Mar 1994 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 97 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 397.600 Person th in Dec 2016 and a record low of 129.700 Person th in Dec 1994. Slovakia Employment: Number of Self-Employed data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Slovakia – Table SK.G006: Labour Force Survey: Employment.

Graph and download economic data for Income Before Taxes: Self-Employment Income by Number of Earners: Consumer Units of Two or More People, One Earner (CXUSFEMPINCLB0705M) from 1984 to 2023 about self-employed, tax, consumer, income, persons, and USA.

Thailand TH: Self-Employed: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment data was reported at 52.935 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 52.958 % for 2016. Thailand TH: Self-Employed: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment data is updated yearly, averaging 59.432 % from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2017, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 69.259 % in 1991 and a record low of 51.659 % in 2015. Thailand TH: Self-Employed: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Thailand – Table TH.World Bank: Employment and Unemployment. Self-employed workers are those workers who, working on their own account or with one or a few partners or in cooperative, hold the type of jobs defined as a 'self-employment jobs.' i.e. jobs where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits derived from the goods and services produced. Self-employed workers include four sub-categories of employers, own-account workers, members of producers' cooperatives, and contributing family workers.; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in November 2017.; Weighted average; Data up to 2016 are estimates while data from 2017 are projections.

This dataset is about regions, featuring 5 columns: continent, land area, number of countries, region, and self-employed workers. The preview is ordered by population (descending).

The number of people in employment in Sweden increased annually up until 2020, when it decreased following the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the employed population, around 514,000 were self-employed in 2022. This was most common in the ages from 45 to 54 years where around 142,000 were self-employed. This age group was followed by the age group from 55 to 64 years, where short of 120,000 people were registered as self-employed in 2022.

Gender differences in self-employment

Over the past 10 years, the number of men who were self-employed was higher than the number of self-employed women. In 2021, these numbers amounted to around 368,000 self-employed men and around 132,000 women.

 Most common education level among the self-employed

The most common educational level among the self-employed in 2021 was higher education, amounting to nearly 230,000 individuals. Secondary education was the second most common education type among the self-employed.

Netherlands Number of Jobs: Self Employed: sa: EA: GC: Public Administration and Services data was reported at 0.000 Person th in Sep 2024. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 Person th for Jun 2024. Netherlands Number of Jobs: Self Employed: sa: EA: GC: Public Administration and Services data is updated quarterly, averaging 0.000 Person th from Mar 1995 (Median) to Sep 2024, with 119 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.000 Person th in Sep 2024 and a record low of 0.000 Person th in Sep 2024. Netherlands Number of Jobs: Self Employed: sa: EA: GC: Public Administration and Services data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistics Netherlands. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Netherlands – Table NL.G021: Number of Jobs: by Employment and Economic Activity: ESA 2010.