India vs Upper middle income: Self-employed, total (% of total employment)
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) over time
- India
- Upper middle income
How they compare
India currently reports 74.9% against 38.7% in Upper middle income, a difference of 36.2%.
That makes India's figure about 1.9 times Upper middle income's.
Across all 35 years both countries report, India has been ahead every year.
India ranks 28th and Upper middle income ranks 29th of 187 countries.
India has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | India | Upper middle income | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 86.0% | 52.3% | 33.6% | India |
| 2000s | 84.2% | 47.4% | 36.8% | India |
| 2010s | 79.9% | 41.6% | 38.3% | India |
| 2020s | 76.2% | 39.5% | 36.7% | India |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher self-employed, total (% of total employment), India or Upper middle income?
- India, at 74.9% against 38.7% in Upper middle income as of 2025.
- What is the difference in self-employed, total (% of total employment) between India and Upper middle income?
- 36.2%, with India ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for India and Upper middle income?
- 35 years are reported by both, from 1991 to 2025.
- How do India and Upper middle income rank globally for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- India ranks 28th and Upper middle income ranks 29th of 187 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
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 sub-categories of employers, own-account workers and members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers.