Self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income): Self-employed, female (% of female employment) was 83.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) recorded 83.1% for self-employed, female (% of female employment) in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is down 0.2% on the previous year and down 1.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) peaked at 87.9% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 83.1%, in 2025.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 5th out of 47 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 87.9% | — |
| 1992 | 87.8% | -0.0% |
| 1993 | 87.8% | -0.0% |
| 1994 | 87.8% | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 87.7% | -0.1% |
| 1996 | 87.5% | -0.3% |
| 1997 | 87.2% | -0.3% |
| 1998 | 87.1% | -0.2% |
| 1999 | 86.9% | -0.2% |
| 2000 | 86.8% | -0.2% |
| 2001 | 86.7% | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 86.6% | -0.2% |
| 2003 | 86.4% | -0.2% |
| 2004 | 86.2% | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 86.2% | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 86.0% | -0.2% |
| 2007 | 85.7% | -0.3% |
| 2008 | 85.5% | -0.2% |
| 2009 | 85.4% | -0.2% |
| 2010 | 85.4% | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 85.1% | -0.3% |
| 2012 | 84.9% | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 84.6% | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 84.2% | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 83.9% | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 83.8% | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 83.5% | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 83.2% | -0.3% |
| 2019 | 83.2% | -0.1% |
| 2020 | 83.9% | +0.9% |
| 2021 | 83.7% | -0.2% |
| 2022 | 83.5% | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 83.4% | -0.0% |
| 2024 | 83.3% | -0.2% |
| 2025 | 83.1% | -0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 87.5% | 86.9% | 87.9% | 9 |
| 2000s | 86.1% | 85.4% | 86.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 84.2% | 83.2% | 85.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 83.5% | 83.1% | 83.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
- 2 Niger 95.4% compare
- 3 Sierra Leone 94.8% compare
- 4 Afghanistan 93.5% compare
- 5 Mozambique 91.3% compare
- 6 Nepal 90.8% compare
- 7 Liberia 90.7% compare
- 8 Madagascar 90.6% compare
More work & labour data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) 53.4% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) 75.6% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 70.3% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) 49.3% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) 51.4% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) 76.5% (2025)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) 86.9% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages) 65.2% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages) 66.7% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages) 71.6% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- Self-employed, female (% of female employment) in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) was 83.1% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest self-employed, female (% of female employment) recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 87.9% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, female (% of female employment) recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 83.1% in 2025.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) rank for self-employed, female (% of female employment)?
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) ranks 5th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, female (% of female employment) rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Self-employed, female (% of female employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
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.