Data for 2020

Self-Employment Rate, 2020

Name: Self-Employment Rate, 2020
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO)
License: https://www.ilo.org/rights-and-permissions

2020, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Self-Employment Rate, 2020 covers 187 countries. Chad is highest, at 91.838; Qatar is lowest, at 0.857. The middle country reads 33.113. Against 2019, 187 values changed (121 up, 66 down), the same countries are covered.

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Self-Employment Rate · Data for 2020

HighestChad

91.838

LowestQatar

0.857

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

187countries
1measure
2020the year it describes
187distinct values15 decimals, as published
Sep 10, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Self-Employment Rate, 2020, as published. ILO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 187 countries · select a heading to sort

Self-Employment Rate, 2020: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	91.838
2	Niger`NER`Western Africa	91.333
3	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	90.149
4	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	89.440
5	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	87.612
6	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	86.591
7	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	86.587
8	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	86.286
9	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	86.176
10	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	85.908
11	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	85.468
12	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	85.304
13	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	84.334
14	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	84.161
15	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	83.969
16	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	83.452
17	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	83.094
18	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	80.891
19	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	80.396
20	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	79.968
21	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	79.743
22	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	79.679
23	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	78.610
24	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	77.534
25	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	77.296
26	India`IND`Southern Asia	77.202
27	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	76.725
28	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	75.422
29	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	75.324
30	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	75.196
31	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	73.906
32	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	71.736
33	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	71.528
34	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	71.353
35	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	71.260
36	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	70.983
37	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	70.200
38	Bolivia`BOL`South America	69.798
39	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	68.075
40	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	66.526
41	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	65.724
42	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	64.355
43	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	62.728
44	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	61.945
45	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	61.469
46	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	61.070
47	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	59.332
48	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	59.074
49	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	58.896
50	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	58.681
51	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	56.949
52	Peru`PER`South America	55.916
53	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	55.851
54	Ecuador`ECU`South America	54.378
55	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	53.842
56	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	53.559
57	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	53.495
58	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	52.911
59	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	52.824
60	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	52.250
61	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	50.523
62	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	49.912
63	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	48.155
64	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	47.779
65	Colombia`COL`South America	47.308
66	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	46.609
67	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	45.635
68	Honduras`HND`Central America	45.591
69	Paraguay`PRY`South America	45.521
70	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	45.091
71	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	45.075
72	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	44.904
73	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	43.730
74	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	43.430
75	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	43.285
76	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	43.114
77	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	42.547
78	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	41.707
79	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	41.432
80	Panama`PAN`Central America	41.242
81	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	40.541
82	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	39.702
83	Venezuela`VEN`South America	39.691
84	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	39.538
85	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	39.186
86	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	38.823
87	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	38.672
88	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	37.771
89	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	36.773
90	Belize`BLZ`Central America	35.976
91	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	35.481
92	Guyana`GUY`South America	35.256
93	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	33.975
94	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	33.113
95	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	33.079
96	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	33.023
97	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	32.629
98	Brazil`BRA`South America	32.506
99	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	32.003
100	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	31.384
101	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	31.243
102	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	30.403
103	Mexico`MEX`Central America	30.360
104	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	29.112
105	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	29.003
106	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	28.973
107	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	28.791
108	Uruguay`URY`South America	28.431
109	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	27.684
110	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	27.355
111	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	27.242
112	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	27.237
113	Argentina`ARG`South America	27.000
114	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	26.989
115	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	26.674
116	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	26.521
117	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	26.518
118	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	25.960
119	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	25.704
120	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	25.619
121	Chile`CHL`South America	25.100
122	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	24.428
123	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	24.316
124	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	23.677
125	Suriname`SUR`South America	23.380
126	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	22.567
127	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	21.524
128	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	21.391
129	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	21.267
130	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	20.161
131	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	19.615
132	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	18.973
133	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	18.960
134	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	17.599
135	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	16.921
136	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	16.886
137	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	16.722
138	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	16.701
139	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	16.135
140	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	15.914
141	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	15.892
142	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	15.767
143	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	15.694
144	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	15.537
145	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	15.457
146	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	15.262
147	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	15.162
148	Canada`CAN`Northern America	15.161
149	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	14.793
150	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	14.777
151	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	14.550
152	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	14.522
153	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	14.517
154	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	14.289
155	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	13.842
156	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	13.782
157	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	13.492
158	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	13.438
159	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	12.869
160	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	12.740
161	France`FRA`Western Europe	12.404
162	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	12.146
163	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	12.001
164	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	11.760
165	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	11.334
166	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	11.134
167	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	10.730
168	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	10.725
169	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	9.881
170	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	9.600
171	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	9.488
172	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	9.207
173	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	9.088
174	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	8.875
175	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	8.691
176	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	8.521
177	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	7.573
178	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	6.800
179	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	6.752
180	United States`USA`Northern America	6.307
181	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	5.579
182	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	5.145
183	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	4.940
184	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	4.779
185	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	2.753
186	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	2.750
187	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.857

02In 2020

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Chad91.838
2Niger91.333
3Sierra Leone90.149
4Madagascar89.440
5Nigeria87.612

Lowest

187Qatar0.857
186Kuwait2.750
185Bahrain2.753
184United Arab Emirates4.779
183Norway4.940

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 33.113. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032019 → 2020

Since 2019

What changed between 2019 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
187values changed, of 187 in both
121 · 66rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Guatemala36.561 → 41.707+5.146
New Caledonia14.213 → 16.921+2.708
Paraguay42.925 → 45.521+2.596
Mali82.733 → 85.304+2.571
Kenya62.006 → 64.355+2.350

Fell most

North Macedonia20.604 → 17.599−3.005
Puerto Rico14.934 → 12.740−2.194
Tonga49.804 → 48.155−1.649
Egypt28.900 → 27.355−1.545
Türkiye31.776 → 30.403−1.373

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from ILO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2020.
The position is ours
ILO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 187 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
187 rows · 7.1 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download self-employment-2020-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
ILO’s own file, on its own site.
SL.EMP.SELF.ZS

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

International Labour Organization (ILO) (2020). Self-Employment Rate, 2020 [data set], describing 2020. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/self-employment/2020

0635 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Self-Employment Rate, 2019
187 countries
The year after ›
Self-Employment Rate, 2021
187 countries
All of them
Self-Employment Rate: every year
35 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions