Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in OECD members
OECD members: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) was 15.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in OECD members, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
OECD members recorded 15.5% 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 0.3% on the previous year and down 7.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in OECD members peaked at 20.5% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 15.5%, in 2025.
That places OECD members 42nd out of 45 groups 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) in OECD members, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 20.5% | — |
| 1992 | 20.5% | -0.1% |
| 1993 | 20.4% | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 20.3% | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 20.0% | -1.5% |
| 1996 | 19.8% | -1.0% |
| 1997 | 19.8% | -0.1% |
| 1998 | 19.3% | -2.6% |
| 1999 | 18.9% | -1.8% |
| 2000 | 18.5% | -2.4% |
| 2001 | 18.5% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 18.3% | -1.2% |
| 2003 | 18.3% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 18.1% | -0.7% |
| 2005 | 17.9% | -1.4% |
| 2006 | 17.6% | -1.3% |
| 2007 | 17.3% | -1.8% |
| 2008 | 17.2% | -0.6% |
| 2009 | 17.5% | +1.8% |
| 2010 | 17.5% | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 17.4% | -0.2% |
| 2012 | 17.3% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 17.1% | -1.2% |
| 2014 | 16.9% | -1.0% |
| 2015 | 16.7% | -0.9% |
| 2016 | 16.5% | -1.2% |
| 2017 | 16.4% | -0.7% |
| 2018 | 16.3% | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 16.1% | -1.4% |
| 2020 | 16.0% | -0.8% |
| 2021 | 16.2% | +1.2% |
| 2022 | 15.9% | -1.8% |
| 2023 | 15.7% | -1.2% |
| 2024 | 15.6% | -0.7% |
| 2025 | 15.5% | -0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 19.9% | 18.9% | 20.5% | 9 |
| 2000s | 17.9% | 17.2% | 18.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.8% | 16.1% | 17.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 15.8% | 15.5% | 16.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near OECD members
More work & labour data for OECD members
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) 47.1% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) 43.7% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) 50.3% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) 68.2% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 60.6% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages) 66.8% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) 80.4% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages) 73.6% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages) 53.3% (2025)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) 78.8% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, total (% of total employment) in OECD members?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in OECD members was 15.5% 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 OECD members?
- The highest recorded value was 20.5% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in OECD members?
- The lowest recorded value was 15.5% in 2025.
- How does OECD members rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- OECD members ranks 42nd out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in OECD members?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this OECD members 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.
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.