Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) by country

What this measures

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.

Limitations: Data are drawn from labor force surveys and household surveys, supplemented by official estimates and censuses for a small group of countries. Due to differences in definitions and coverage across countries, there are limitations for comparing data across countries and over time even within a country. Estimates of women in employment are not comparable internationally, reflecting that demographic, social, legal, and cultural trends and norms determine whether women's activities are regarded as economic.

Each country's latest available year is shown; countries report on different schedules, so compare years before comparing values.

Ranking

Regions and income groups

More social protection & labor indicators

• Employment in agriculture, female (% of female employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
• Employment in agriculture, male (% of male employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
• Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
• Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, female (%) (national estimate)
• Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate)
• Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, male (%) (national estimate)
• Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate)
• Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, total (%) (national estimate)
• Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate)
• Employers, female (% of female employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
• Employers, male (% of male employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
• Employers, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate)

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Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, SL.EMP.SELF.ZS, CC BY 4.0. Original source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external database, date accessed: January 17, 2026 View on data.worldbank.org; the full definition is in the World Bank's metadata glossary.