Portugal vs Spain: Self-employed, total (% of total employment)
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) over time
- Portugal
- Spain
How they compare
Spain currently reports 14.5% against 14.4% in Portugal, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 35 shared years of data; in 1991 it was Portugal ahead.
Portugal ranks 147th and Spain ranks 145th of 187 countries.
Across the 4 decades both report, Portugal averaged higher in 3 and Spain in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Portugal | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 26.2% | 24.7% | 1.5% | Portugal |
| 2000s | 24.7% | 18.4% | 6.3% | Portugal |
| 2010s | 18.3% | 16.8% | 1.4% | Portugal |
| 2020s | 15.1% | 15.3% | 0.2% | Spain |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher self-employed, total (% of total employment), Portugal or Spain?
- Spain, at 14.5% against 14.4% in Portugal as of 2025.
- What is the difference in self-employed, total (% of total employment) between Portugal and Spain?
- 0.1%, with Spain ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Portugal and Spain?
- 35 years are reported by both, from 1991 to 2025.
- How do Portugal and Spain rank globally for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- Portugal ranks 147th and Spain ranks 145th 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.