Namibia: Self-employment

* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
 Namibia

Self-employment, percent of total employment

 Latest value 36.54
 Year 2025
 Measure percent
 Data availability 1991 - 2025
 Average 38.84
 Min - Max 29.78 - 43.53
 Source The World Bank
 Available for Data download
The latest value from 2025 is 36.54 percent, a decline from 36.79 percent in 2024. In comparison, the world average is 38.92 percent, based on data from 176 countries. Historically, the average for Namibia from 1991 to 2025 is 38.84 percent. The minimum value, 29.78 percent, was reached in 2016 while the maximum of 43.53 percent was recorded in 1991. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.
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 Recent values Namibia: Self-employment
 2025 36.54
 2024 36.79
 2023 37.01
 2022 37.15
 2021 37.23
 2020 37.77
 2019 37.52
 2018 37.55




Definition: 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.

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 Related indicators Latest Reference Measure
 Labor force 1.15 2025 million people
 Unemployment rate 19.29 2025 percent
 Female unemployment 18.40 2025 percent
 Male unemployment 20.12 2025 percent
 Youth unemployment 38.05 2025 percent
 Labor force participation 58.84 2025 percent
 Labor force: percent female 48.30 2025 percent
 Female labor force participation 54.92 2025 percent
 Male labor force participation 63.04 2025 percent
 Self-employment 36.54 2025 percent
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