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

Ranking 2025

Values shown in %.

Analysis

This metric measures self-employed workers as a share of total employment. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator SL.EMP.SELF.ZS), 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 productive cooperatives. The unit is percentage of total employment. The dataset covers 186 countries, all with data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. The data year is 2025.

The top of the ranking is dominated by sub-Saharan African and South Asian economies. Chad (rank 1) leads at 91.56%, followed by Niger (rank 2, 89.48%), Sierra Leone (rank 3, 88.81%), Madagascar (rank 4, 88.32%), and Nigeria (rank 5, 86.15%). India, the world's most populous democracy, ranks 28th at 74.90%. Nepal (rank 19, 78.58%) and Bangladesh (rank 45, 61.04%) also place in the upper half. High rankings across this group are consistent with labor markets where informal and agricultural work account for a large share of total employment.

The middle of the ranking includes a mixed group of economies. Moldova ranks 47th at 58.78%, and Ecuador ranks 56th at 52.33%. Greece (rank 99) is the highest-ranked European Union member at 30.46%, a notable contrast to most of its EU peers, who cluster near the bottom of the ranking. The United States ranks 179th at 6.07%, while Germany ranks 172nd at 8.15% and Japan ranks 171st at 9.05%. Gulf Cooperation Council states occupy the lowest positions: Saudi Arabia (rank 180, 5.55%), United Arab Emirates (rank 181, 5.07%), Oman (rank 182, 4.96%), Norway (rank 183, 4.87%), Kuwait (rank 184, 3.16%), Bahrain (rank 185, 2.44%), and Qatar (rank 186, 0.83%).

Several limitations apply to this metric. The estimates are modeled ILO figures, meaning they are not always derived from direct national surveys but may involve statistical interpolation or extrapolation. The definition captures a broad category that includes employers, own-account workers, and cooperative members, which can obscure important differences in income, formality, and economic security between those sub-groups. High self-employment rates may reflect informal or subsistence work rather than entrepreneurial activity, but the metric does not distinguish between these. Cross-country comparisons are affected by differences in how national statistical agencies classify employment relationships. The data range spans 0.83% to 91.56%, a spread of over 10,900%, which indicates that aggregate rankings should be interpreted with care relative to each country's specific labor market context.

Methodology

Data comes from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SL.EMP.SELF.ZS, with a reference year of 2025. The metric is defined as follows: 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 productive cooperatives. The dataset covers 186 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. All 186 countries (100%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints meet the official data quality standard (threshold: 70%). No extreme outliers were detected using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change is 1.8%, well below the 50% volatility threshold. The data range runs from 0.83% (Qatar) to 91.56% (Chad), a spread of approximately 10,903%. Values are expressed as a percentage of total employment and are modeled estimates based on ILO methodology, which may involve statistical adjustments where direct survey data are unavailable.

Sources

• World Bank