Self-employment - Country rankings

* indicates monthly or quarterly data series

Self-employment, percent of total employment, 2022:

The average for 2022 based on 179 countries was 40.56 percent. The highest value was in Niger: 94.01 percent and the lowest value was in Qatar: 0.39 percent. The indicator is available from 1991 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Measure: percent; Source: The World Bank
Select indicator
* indicates monthly or quarterly data series


Countries Self-employment, 2022 Global rank Available data
Niger 94.01 1 1991 - 2022
C.A. Republic 93.33 2 1991 - 2022
Chad 90.88 3 1991 - 2022
Sierra Leone 89.15 4 1991 - 2022
Madagascar 88.75 5 1991 - 2022
Eq. Guinea 86.59 6 1991 - 2022
DR Congo 86.4 7 1991 - 2022
Nigeria 85.85 8 1991 - 2022
Burkina Faso 85.62 9 1991 - 2022
Tanzania 85.58 10 1991 - 2022
Mali 85.38 11 1991 - 2022
Ethiopia 85.15 12 1991 - 2022
Burundi 84.84 13 1991 - 2022
Mozambique 84.84 14 1991 - 2022
North Korea 83.02 15 1991 - 2022
Guinea 81.85 16 1991 - 2022
Afghanistan 81.74 17 1991 - 2022
Uganda 81.16 18 1991 - 2022
Laos 78.86 19 1991 - 2022
Liberia 78.61 20 1991 - 2022
Benin 78.56 21 1991 - 2022
Nepal 78.46 22 1991 - 2022
Papua N.G. 78.11 23 1991 - 2022
India 76.87 24 1991 - 2022
R. of Congo 75.77 25 1991 - 2022
Ghana 75.11 26 1991 - 2022
Togo 75.03 27 1991 - 2022
Cameroon 75 28 1991 - 2022
Gambia 74.88 29 1991 - 2022
Haiti 74.58 30 1991 - 2022
Ivory Coast 74 31 1991 - 2022
Mauritania 73.02 32 1991 - 2022
Zambia 73.02 33 1991 - 2022
Eritrea 72.11 34 1991 - 2022
Bhutan 71.19 35 1991 - 2022
G.-Bissau 69.4 36 1991 - 2022
Bolivia 68.82 37 1991 - 2022
Azerbaijan 67.1 38 1991 - 2022
Angola 64.79 39 1991 - 2022
Solomon Isl. 64.68 40 1991 - 2022
Burma 64.47 41 1991 - 2022
Senegal 64.36 42 1991 - 2022
Rwanda 64 43 1991 - 2022
Zimbabwe 63.47 44 1991 - 2022
Armenia 62.47 45 1991 - 2022
Kenya 61.4 46 1991 - 2022
Malawi 61.4 47 1991 - 2022
Vanuatu 60.19 48 1991 - 2022
Sudan 59.7 49 1991 - 2022
Moldova 59.13 50 1991 - 2022
Bangladesh 58.15 51 1991 - 2022
Pakistan 57.86 52 1991 - 2022
Comoros 57.01 53 1991 - 2022
S.T.&Principe 56.68 54 1991 - 2022
Yemen 54.48 55 1991 - 2022
Vietnam 53.79 56 1991 - 2022
Indonesia 53.44 57 1991 - 2022
Ecuador 53.3 58 1991 - 2022
Djibouti 52.9 59 1991 - 2022
Albania 52.82 60 1991 - 2022
Cambodia 52.33 61 1991 - 2022
Thailand 52.04 62 1991 - 2022
Peru 51.9 63 1991 - 2022
Tonga 51.39 64 1991 - 2022
Somalia 51.23 65 1991 - 2022
Georgia 48.92 66 1991 - 2022
Morocco 48.15 67 1991 - 2022
Colombia 47.1 68 1991 - 2022
Uzbekistan 46.16 69 1991 - 2022
Honduras 45.92 70 1991 - 2022
China 45.76 71 1991 - 2022
Panama 44.32 72 1991 - 2022
Guatemala 43.93 73 1991 - 2022
Domin. Rep. 43.65 74 1991 - 2022
Nicaragua 42.93 75 1991 - 2022
Iran 42.47 76 1991 - 2022
Mongolia 42.29 77 1991 - 2022
Paraguay 42.21 78 1991 - 2022
Sri Lanka 42.15 79 1991 - 2022
Venezuela 40.15 80 1991 - 2022
Cape Verde 39.18 81 1991 - 2022
Namibia 39 82 1991 - 2022
Lesotho 38.9 83 1991 - 2022
Jamaica 38.18 84 1991 - 2022
Greece 37.12 85 1991 - 2022
Syria 36.7 86 1991 - 2022
El Salvador 36.53 87 1991 - 2022
Philippines 36.06 88 1991 - 2022
Swaziland 35.81 89 1991 - 2022
Samoa 35.17 90 1991 - 2022
Guyana 34.41 91 1991 - 2022
Gabon 33.73 92 1991 - 2022
Kyrgyzstan 33.09 93 1991 - 2022
Belize 32.63 94 1991 - 2022
Brazil 32.13 95 1991 - 2022
Turkmenistan 31.95 96 1991 - 2022
Mexico 31.84 97 1991 - 2022
Fiji 31.48 98 1991 - 2022
Iraq 31.13 99 1991 - 2022
Algeria 31.02 100 1991 - 2022
Botswana 30.94 101 1991 - 2022
Lebanon 29.81 102 1991 - 2022
Turkey 29.73 103 1991 - 2022
South Africa 28.99 104 1991 - 2022
Saint Lucia 28.81 105 1991 - 2022
Uruguay 28.35 106 1991 - 2022
Argentina 27.61 107 1991 - 2022
Egypt 27.42 108 1991 - 2022
Costa Rica 27.37 109 1991 - 2022
Tajikistan 27.15 110 1991 - 2022
Serbia 26.94 111 1991 - 2022
St. Vincent & ... 26.63 112 1991 - 2022
Kazakhstan 25.64 113 1991 - 2022
Tunisia 25.39 114 1991 - 2022
Bosnia & Herz. 24.78 115 1991 - 2022
Malaysia 24.74 116 1991 - 2022
Chile 24.61 117 1991 - 2022
Tr.&Tobago 24.52 118 1991 - 2022
Palestine 23.83 119 1991 - 2022
South Korea 23.45 120 1991 - 2022
Romania 23.2 121 1991 - 2022
New Zealand 23.09 122 1991 - 2022
Suriname 22.65 123 1991 - 2022
Maldives 22.19 124 1991 - 2022
Italy 21.54 125 1991 - 2022
Montenegro 21.06 126 1991 - 2022
Barbados 20.46 127 1991 - 2022
Poland 19.86 128 1991 - 2022
Mauritius 17.81 129 1991 - 2022
N. Caledonia 16.86 130 1991 - 2022
Puerto Rico 16.75 131 1991 - 2022
Bahamas 16.67 132 1991 - 2022
North Macedonia 16.54 133 1991 - 2022
Netherlands 16.36 134 1991 - 2022
Switzerland 16.35 135 1991 - 2022
Czechia 15.98 136 1991 - 2022
Australia 15.87 137 1991 - 2022
UK 15.67 138 1991 - 2022
Spain 15.34 139 1991 - 2022
Portugal 15.16 140 1991 - 2022
Malta 15.07 141 1991 - 2022
Belgium 15.06 142 1991 - 2022
Slovakia 15.01 143 1991 - 2022
Libya 14.84 144 1991 - 2022
Slovenia 13.97 145 1991 - 2022
Ireland 13.96 146 1991 - 2022
Finland 13.93 147 1991 - 2022
Iceland 13.67 148 1991 - 2022
Singapore 13.62 149 1991 - 2022
Canada 13.57 150 1991 - 2022
Croatia 13.48 151 1991 - 2022
Latvia 13.4 152 1991 - 2022
France 13.09 153 1991 - 2022
Austria 12.73 154 1991 - 2022
Hungary 12.68 155 1991 - 2022
Lithuania 12.22 156 1991 - 2022
Jordan 11.67 157 1991 - 2022
Israel 11.4 158 1991 - 2022
Bulgaria 11.09 159 1991 - 2022
Cyprus 10.9 160 1991 - 2022
Luxembourg 10.69 161 1991 - 2022
Estonia 10.52 162 1991 - 2022
Sweden 10.5 163 1991 - 2022
Japan 9.69 164 1991 - 2022
Germany 8.75 165 1991 - 2022
Denmark 8.58 166 1991 - 2022
Hong Kong 8.45 167 1991 - 2022
Brunei 7.86 168 1991 - 2022
Russia 6.61 169 1991 - 2022
Macao 6.56 170 1991 - 2022
Saudi Arabia 6.45 171 1991 - 2022
USA 6.28 172 1991 - 2022
Belarus 4.71 173 1991 - 2022
Norway 4.59 174 1991 - 2022
UA Emirates 4.47 175 1991 - 2022
Oman 4.4 176 1991 - 2022
Bahrain 2.68 177 1991 - 2022
Kuwait 2.09 178 1991 - 2022
Qatar 0.39 179 1991 - 2022



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 four sub-categories of employers, own-account workers, members of producers' cooperatives, and contributing family workers.

Selected articles from our guide:

The unholy trinity of international finance

Most commonly used measures of corruption

All articles

1. Niger
2. C.A. Republic
3. Chad
4. Sierra Leone
5. Madagascar
6. Eq. Guinea
7. DR Congo
8. Nigeria
9. Burkina Faso
10. Tanzania
11. Mali
12. Ethiopia
13. Burundi
14. Mozambique
15. North Korea
16. Guinea
17. Afghanistan
18. Uganda
19. Laos
20. Liberia
21. Benin
22. Nepal
23. Papua N.G.
24. India
25. R. of Congo
26. Ghana
27. Togo
28. Cameroon
29. Gambia
30. Haiti
31. Ivory Coast
32. Mauritania
33. Zambia
34. Eritrea
35. Bhutan
36. G.-Bissau
37. Bolivia
38. Azerbaijan
39. Angola
40. Solomon Isl.
41. Burma
42. Senegal
43. Rwanda
44. Zimbabwe
45. Armenia
46. Kenya
47. Malawi
48. Vanuatu
49. Sudan
50. Moldova
51. Bangladesh
52. Pakistan
53. Comoros
54. S.T.&Principe
55. Yemen
56. Vietnam
57. Indonesia
58. Ecuador
59. Djibouti
60. Albania
61. Cambodia
62. Thailand
63. Peru
64. Tonga
65. Somalia
66. Georgia
67. Morocco
68. Colombia
69. Uzbekistan
70. Honduras
71. China
72. Panama
73. Guatemala
74. Domin. Rep.
75. Nicaragua
76. Iran
77. Mongolia
78. Paraguay
79. Sri Lanka
80. Venezuela
81. Cape Verde
82. Namibia
83. Lesotho
84. Jamaica
85. Greece
86. Syria
87. El Salvador
88. Philippines
89. Swaziland
90. Samoa
91. Guyana
92. Gabon
93. Kyrgyzstan
94. Belize
95. Brazil
96. Turkmenistan
97. Mexico
98. Fiji
99. Iraq
100. Algeria
101. Botswana
102. Lebanon
103. Turkey
104. South Africa
105. Saint Lucia
106. Uruguay
107. Argentina
108. Egypt
109. Costa Rica
110. Tajikistan
111. Serbia
112. St. Vincent & ...
113. Kazakhstan
114. Tunisia
115. Bosnia & Herz.
116. Malaysia
117. Chile
118. Tr.&Tobago
119. Palestine
120. South Korea
121. Romania
122. New Zealand
123. Suriname
124. Maldives
125. Italy
126. Montenegro
127. Barbados
128. Poland
129. Mauritius
130. N. Caledonia
131. Puerto Rico
132. Bahamas
133. North Macedonia
134. Netherlands
135. Switzerland
136. Czechia
137. Australia
138. UK
139. Spain
140. Portugal
141. Malta
142. Belgium
143. Slovakia
144. Libya
145. Slovenia
146. Ireland
147. Finland
148. Iceland
149. Singapore
150. Canada
151. Croatia
152. Latvia
153. France
154. Austria
155. Hungary
156. Lithuania
157. Jordan
158. Israel
159. Bulgaria
160. Cyprus
161. Luxembourg
162. Estonia
163. Sweden
164. Japan
165. Germany
166. Denmark
167. Hong Kong
168. Brunei
169. Russia
170. Macao
171. Saudi Arabia
172. USA
173. Belarus
174. Norway
175. UA Emirates
176. Oman
177. Bahrain
178. Kuwait
179. Qatar
94.01
93.33
90.88
89.15
88.75
86.59
86.40
85.85
85.62
85.58
85.38
85.15
84.84
84.84
83.02
81.85
81.74
81.16
78.86
78.61
78.56
78.46
78.11
76.87
75.77
75.11
75.03
75.00
74.88
74.58
74.00
73.02
73.02
72.11
71.19
69.40
68.82
67.10
64.79
64.68
64.47
64.36
64.00
63.47
62.47
61.40
61.40
60.19
59.70
59.13
58.15
57.86
57.01
56.68
54.48
53.79
53.44
53.30
52.90
52.82
52.33
52.04
51.90
51.39
51.23
48.92
48.15
47.10
46.16
45.92
45.76
44.32
43.93
43.65
42.93
42.47
42.29
42.21
42.15
40.15
39.18
39.00
38.90
38.18
37.12
36.70
36.53
36.06
35.81
35.17
34.41
33.73
33.09
32.63
32.13
31.95
31.84
31.48
31.13
31.02
30.94
29.81
29.73
28.99
28.81
28.35
27.61
27.42
27.37
27.15
26.94
26.63
25.64
25.39
24.78
24.74
24.61
24.52
23.83
23.45
23.20
23.09
22.65
22.19
21.54
21.06
20.46
19.86
17.81
16.86
16.75
16.67
16.54
16.36
16.35
15.98
15.87
15.67
15.34
15.16
15.07
15.06
15.01
14.84
13.97
13.96
13.93
13.67
13.62
13.57
13.48
13.40
13.09
12.73
12.68
12.22
11.67
11.40
11.09
10.90
10.69
10.52
10.50
9.69
8.75
8.58
8.45
7.86
6.61
6.56
6.45
6.28
4.71
4.59
4.47
4.40
2.68
2.09
0.39
0
23.5
47
70.5
94.01


This site uses cookies.
Learn more here


OK