Self-employed, male (% of male employment) in Low & middle income
Low & middle income: Self-employed, male (% of male employment) was 54.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, male (% of male employment) in Low & middle income, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
The most recent figure for self-employed, male (% of male employment) in Low & middle income is 54.5%, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and down 1.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, male (% of male employment) in Low & middle income peaked at 62.6% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 54.5%, in 2025.
Low & middle income ranks 17th of 47 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, male (% of male employment) in Low & middle income, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 62.6% | — |
| 1992 | 62.4% | -0.2% |
| 1993 | 62.2% | -0.3% |
| 1994 | 62.0% | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 61.8% | -0.3% |
| 1996 | 61.4% | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 61.1% | -0.6% |
| 1998 | 61.1% | -0.0% |
| 1999 | 60.9% | -0.2% |
| 2000 | 60.7% | -0.3% |
| 2001 | 60.4% | -0.6% |
| 2002 | 60.1% | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 60.0% | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 59.5% | -0.8% |
| 2005 | 59.0% | -0.9% |
| 2006 | 58.6% | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 58.2% | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 57.8% | -0.6% |
| 2009 | 57.7% | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 57.3% | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 56.8% | -0.9% |
| 2012 | 56.2% | -1.0% |
| 2013 | 56.0% | -0.3% |
| 2014 | 55.8% | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 55.4% | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 55.3% | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 55.2% | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 55.0% | -0.3% |
| 2019 | 54.9% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 55.5% | +1.1% |
| 2021 | 55.2% | -0.6% |
| 2022 | 55.4% | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 55.0% | -0.6% |
| 2024 | 54.7% | -0.5% |
| 2025 | 54.5% | -0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 61.7% | 60.9% | 62.6% | 9 |
| 2000s | 59.2% | 57.7% | 60.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 55.8% | 54.9% | 57.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 55.1% | 54.5% | 55.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Low & middle income
More work & labour data for Low & middle income
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) 74.3% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 61.0% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) 33.9% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) 50.0% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) 42.2% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages) 52.0% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages) 65.7% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) 79.0% (2025)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) 67.0% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages) 47.6% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, male (% of male employment) in Low & middle income?
- Self-employed, male (% of male employment) in Low & middle income was 54.5% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest self-employed, male (% of male employment) recorded in Low & middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 62.6% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, male (% of male employment) recorded in Low & middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 54.5% in 2025.
- How does Low & middle income rank for self-employed, male (% of male employment)?
- Low & middle income ranks 17th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, male (% of male employment) rising or falling in Low & middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Low & middle income data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Self-employed, male (% of male 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.