Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Bolivia
Bolivia: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) was 66.3% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bolivia, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Bolivia recorded 66.3% for self-employed, total (% of total employment) in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 7.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bolivia peaked at 78.6% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 66.3%, in 2025.
That places Bolivia 39th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Bolivia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 78.6% | — |
| 1992 | 78.3% | -0.4% |
| 1993 | 78.1% | -0.3% |
| 1994 | 77.8% | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 77.5% | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 77.2% | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 76.8% | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 76.6% | -0.2% |
| 1999 | 76.3% | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 75.0% | -1.7% |
| 2001 | 74.8% | -0.3% |
| 2002 | 76.8% | +2.7% |
| 2003 | 74.1% | -3.5% |
| 2004 | 73.9% | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 73.7% | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 73.7% | +0.1% |
| 2007 | 71.1% | -3.6% |
| 2008 | 71.4% | +0.5% |
| 2009 | 68.8% | -3.7% |
| 2010 | 69.9% | +1.6% |
| 2011 | 70.9% | +1.5% |
| 2012 | 69.7% | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 70.8% | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 73.3% | +3.6% |
| 2015 | 71.7% | -2.2% |
| 2016 | 71.4% | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 70.7% | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 70.4% | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 68.1% | -3.2% |
| 2020 | 69.8% | +2.4% |
| 2021 | 69.3% | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 67.8% | -2.2% |
| 2023 | 66.6% | -1.7% |
| 2024 | 66.5% | -0.2% |
| 2025 | 66.3% | -0.4% |
Bolivia compared with similar countries
- Bolivia's 66.3% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 64.6%, 1.0× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Bolivia's 66.3% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 31.1%, 2.1× the median. (31 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 77.5% | 76.3% | 78.6% | 9 |
| 2000s | 73.3% | 68.8% | 76.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 70.7% | 68.1% | 73.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 67.7% | 66.3% | 69.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Bolivia
More work & labour data for Bolivia
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 1,928 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 79.04 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 7,271 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 2.58 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 0.823 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 17,718 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 5,806 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 77 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 0.9059 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 2.01 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bolivia?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Bolivia was 66.3% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Bolivia?
- The highest recorded value was 78.6% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Bolivia?
- The lowest recorded value was 66.3% in 2025.
- How does Bolivia rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- Bolivia ranks 39th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in Bolivia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bolivia data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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.