Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Brunei
Brunei: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) was 7.3% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Brunei, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
In 2025, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Brunei stood at 7.3%. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is down 1.5% on the previous year and down 18.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Brunei peaked at 9.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 7.3%, in 2025.
That places Brunei 176th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom 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 Brunei, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 8.5% | — |
| 1992 | 8.5% | +0.5% |
| 1993 | 8.7% | +1.5% |
| 1994 | 8.8% | +1.3% |
| 1995 | 8.8% | +0.4% |
| 1996 | 8.8% | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 8.7% | -0.7% |
| 1998 | 8.9% | +1.8% |
| 1999 | 8.8% | -1.1% |
| 2000 | 8.6% | -2.4% |
| 2001 | 8.6% | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 8.6% | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 8.5% | -1.5% |
| 2004 | 8.4% | -1.1% |
| 2005 | 8.3% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 8.3% | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 8.4% | +1.0% |
| 2008 | 8.4% | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 8.7% | +3.5% |
| 2010 | 8.8% | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 8.8% | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 8.8% | +0.6% |
| 2013 | 8.9% | +1.2% |
| 2014 | 8.9% | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 9.0% | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 9.0% | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 8.9% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 7.6% | -15.0% |
| 2019 | 9.0% | +18.6% |
| 2020 | 9.6% | +6.9% |
| 2021 | 7.9% | -17.4% |
| 2022 | 7.5% | -5.3% |
| 2023 | 7.5% | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 7.4% | -1.4% |
| 2025 | 7.3% | -1.5% |
Brunei compared with similar countries
- Brunei's 7.3% is below the median for high income countries, which is 13.2%, 55% of the median. (62 countries reporting)
- Brunei's 7.3% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 37.7%, 19% of the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 8.7% | 8.5% | 8.9% | 9 |
| 2000s | 8.5% | 8.3% | 8.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.8% | 7.6% | 9.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.9% | 7.3% | 9.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Brunei
More work & labour data for Brunei
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 137.72 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 63.56 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 240.28 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 5.43 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 1.08 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 172,284 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 64,415 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 60.11 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 2.06 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.5234 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Brunei?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Brunei was 7.3% 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 Brunei?
- The highest recorded value was 9.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Brunei?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.3% in 2025.
- How does Brunei rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- Brunei ranks 176th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in Brunei?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Brunei 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.