Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) - Country Ranking - Europe

Definition: 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.

Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in September 2019.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Albania 54.27 2019
2 Greece 31.90 2019
3 Turkey 31.54 2019
4 Moldova 31.04 2019
5 Serbia 27.70 2019
6 Bosnia and Herzegovina 24.90 2019
7 Romania 24.23 2019
8 Italy 22.74 2019
9 North Macedonia 21.08 2019
10 Montenegro 20.59 2019
11 Poland 20.01 2019
12 Portugal 16.86 2019
13 Czech Republic 16.80 2019
14 Netherlands 16.62 2019
15 Malta 15.70 2019
16 Spain 15.68 2019
17 United Kingdom 15.57 2019
18 Slovak Republic 15.05 2019
19 Ukraine 14.94 2019
20 Ireland 14.40 2019
21 Switzerland 14.37 2019
22 Belgium 14.23 2019
23 Slovenia 13.67 2019
24 Cyprus 13.65 2019
25 Finland 13.46 2019
26 Croatia 12.35 2019
27 Austria 12.16 2019
28 France 12.13 2019
29 Iceland 11.93 2019
30 Lithuania 11.66 2019
31 Latvia 11.59 2019
32 Estonia 10.99 2019
33 Hungary 10.83 2019
33 Bulgaria 10.83 2019
35 Sweden 9.84 2019
36 Germany 9.61 2019
37 Luxembourg 8.74 2019
38 Denmark 8.34 2019
39 Norway 6.46 2019
40 Belarus 4.27 2019

More rankings: Africa | Asia | Central America & the Caribbean | Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | South America | World |

Development Relevance: Breaking down employment information by status in employment provides a statistical basis for describing workers' behaviour and conditions of work, and for defining an individual's socio-economic group. A high proportion of wage and salaried workers in a country can signify advanced economic development. If the proportion of own-account workers (self-employed without hired employees) is sizeable, it may be an indication of a large agriculture sector and low growth in the formal economy. A high proportion of contributing family workers — generally unpaid, although compensation might come indirectly in the form of family income — may indicate weak development, little job growth, and often a large rural economy. Each status group faces different economic risks, and contributing family workers and own-account workers are the most vulnerable - and therefore the most likely to fall into poverty. They are the least likely to have formal work arrangements, are the least likely to have social protection and safety nets to guard against economic shocks, and often are incapable of generating sufficient savings to offset these shocks.

Limitations and Exceptions: Data are drawn from labor force surveys and household surveys, supplemented by official estimates and censuses for a small group of countries. Due to differences in definitions and coverage across countries, there are limitations for comparing data across countries and over time even within a country. Estimates of women in employment are not comparable internationally, reflecting that demographic, social, legal, and cultural trends and norms determine whether women's activities are regarded as economic.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The indicator of status in employment distinguishes between two categories of the total employed. These are: (a) wage and salaried workers (also known as employees); and (b) self-employed workers. Self-employed group is broken down in the subcategories: self-employed workers with employees (employers), self-employed workers without employees (own-account workers), members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers (also known as unpaid family workers). Vulnerable employment refers to the sum of contributing family workers and own-account workers. The series is part of the ILO estimates and is harmonized to ensure comparability across countries and over time by accounting for differences in data source, scope of coverage, methodology, and other country-specific factors. The estimates are based mainly on nationally representative labor force surveys, with other sources (population censuses and nationally reported estimates) used only when no survey data are available.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual