# Self-employed workers

Employers, own-account workers, members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers, whose pay depends directly on the profits of what they produce, as a percentage of total employment. ILO modelled estimates, ages 15 and over.

## Key facts

- Self-employed workers in the World was 46.4% in 2025, according to the World Bank.
- Self-employed workers in the United States was 6.1% in 2025, according to the World Bank.
- Chad had the highest self-employed workers of 181 countries in 2025, at 91.6%, and Qatar the lowest, at 0.8%. Source: the World Bank.
- Published for 187 places, with figures from 1991 to 2025.
- Figures last updated on 2026-10-18.

- Indicator id: `self_employed_share`
- Unit: %
- Note: ILO modelled estimates: model outputs that fill years without a survey, not survey results. The latest year is a nowcast and is revised as surveys arrive. Includes unpaid family workers, so it is high where small farms dominate and is not a measure of entrepreneurship.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/en/self-employed-share
- API: https://invokely.ai/api/v1/indicators/self_employed_share

## Latest figures

| Place | Period | % | Source |
|---|---|---:|---|
| World | 2025 | 46.4 | World Bank, World Development Indicators, modelled estimate. Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-18. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. |
| United States | 2025 | 6.1 | World Bank, World Development Indicators, modelled estimate. Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) (SL.EMP.SELF.ZS). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-18. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. |

## Rankings

- [Countries](https://invokely.ai/rankings/self-employed-share/countries.md) (186 places)
- [EU countries](https://invokely.ai/rankings/self-employed-share/eu-countries.md) (27 places)