Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Moldova
Moldova: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) was 58.8% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Moldova, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Moldova recorded 58.8% for self-employed, total (% of total employment) in 2025.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and down 3.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Moldova peaked at 61.9% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 26.9%, in 1991.
That places Moldova 47th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Moldova, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 26.9% | — |
| 1992 | 27.4% | +1.9% |
| 1993 | 27.8% | +1.6% |
| 1994 | 28.6% | +2.8% |
| 1995 | 29.3% | +2.3% |
| 1996 | 30.2% | +3.0% |
| 1997 | 31.0% | +2.7% |
| 1998 | 31.7% | +2.2% |
| 1999 | 32.3% | +2.2% |
| 2000 | 37.0% | +14.4% |
| 2001 | 39.4% | +6.4% |
| 2002 | 41.4% | +5.3% |
| 2003 | 43.4% | +4.7% |
| 2004 | 43.4% | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 44.7% | +3.0% |
| 2006 | 48.3% | +8.0% |
| 2007 | 50.4% | +4.4% |
| 2008 | 50.5% | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 52.0% | +3.0% |
| 2010 | 55.7% | +7.2% |
| 2011 | 55.5% | -0.3% |
| 2012 | 57.0% | +2.7% |
| 2013 | 57.8% | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 59.6% | +3.0% |
| 2015 | 60.9% | +2.2% |
| 2016 | 61.9% | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 60.4% | -2.5% |
| 2018 | 59.8% | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 59.5% | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 59.3% | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 59.1% | -0.5% |
| 2022 | 58.9% | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 58.8% | -0.1% |
| 2024 | 58.7% | -0.1% |
| 2025 | 58.8% | +0.1% |
Moldova compared with similar countries
- Moldova's 58.8% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 32.4%, 1.8× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Moldova's 58.8% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 14.6%, 4.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 29.5% | 26.9% | 32.3% | 9 |
| 2000s | 45.0% | 37.0% | 52.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 58.8% | 55.5% | 61.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 58.9% | 58.7% | 59.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Moldova
More work & labour data for Moldova
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 654.38 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 72.49 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 1,725 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 1.5 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 0.726 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 24,890 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 5,854 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 71.4 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) -0.868 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate -0.4043 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Moldova?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Moldova was 58.8% 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 Moldova?
- The highest recorded value was 61.9% in 2016.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Moldova?
- The lowest recorded value was 26.9% in 1991.
- How does Moldova rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- Moldova ranks 47th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in Moldova?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Moldova 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.