Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Lower middle income
Lower middle income: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) was 70.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Lower middle income, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Lower middle income recorded 70.4% for self-employed, total (% of total employment) in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and down 3.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Lower middle income peaked at 80.2% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 70.4%, in 2025.
That places Lower middle income 15th out of 47 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Lower middle income, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 80.2% | — |
| 1992 | 80.0% | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 79.8% | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 79.6% | -0.2% |
| 1995 | 79.5% | -0.2% |
| 1996 | 79.2% | -0.3% |
| 1997 | 78.8% | -0.5% |
| 1998 | 78.7% | -0.1% |
| 1999 | 78.5% | -0.3% |
| 2000 | 78.3% | -0.2% |
| 2001 | 78.1% | -0.2% |
| 2002 | 77.8% | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 77.7% | -0.2% |
| 2004 | 77.6% | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 77.0% | -0.8% |
| 2006 | 76.6% | -0.6% |
| 2007 | 76.3% | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 76.1% | -0.2% |
| 2009 | 75.8% | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 75.5% | -0.5% |
| 2011 | 74.8% | -0.9% |
| 2012 | 74.0% | -1.0% |
| 2013 | 73.6% | -0.5% |
| 2014 | 73.2% | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 72.9% | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 72.4% | -0.6% |
| 2017 | 72.1% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 71.7% | -0.6% |
| 2019 | 71.5% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 71.7% | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 71.3% | -0.6% |
| 2022 | 71.4% | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 71.1% | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 70.7% | -0.5% |
| 2025 | 70.4% | -0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 79.4% | 78.5% | 80.2% | 9 |
| 2000s | 77.1% | 75.8% | 78.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 73.2% | 71.5% | 75.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 71.1% | 70.4% | 71.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Lower middle income
- 12 Afghanistan 83.4% compare
- 13 Burkina Faso 82.6% compare
- 14 South Sudan 82.5% compare
- 15 Guinea 81.9% compare
- 16 Uganda 80.5% compare
- 17 Benin 79.8% compare
- 18 Papua New Guinea 78.7% compare
More work & labour data for Lower middle income
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 58.2% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) 49.0% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) 27.7% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) 38.7% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages) 41.7% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) 80.0% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages) 61.2% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) 76.8% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages) 39.2% (2025)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) 53.7% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Lower middle income?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Lower middle income was 70.4% 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 Lower middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 80.2% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Lower middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 70.4% in 2025.
- How does Lower middle income rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- Lower middle income ranks 15th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in Lower middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lower middle income 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.