Data for 2021

Self-Employment Rate, 2021

Name: Self-Employment Rate, 2021
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO)
License: https://www.ilo.org/rights-and-permissions

2021, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Self-Employment Rate, 2021 covers 187 countries. Chad is highest, at 91.328; Qatar is lowest, at 0.783. The middle country reads 32.734. Against 2020, 187 values changed (38 up, 149 down), the same countries are covered.

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Self-Employment Rate · Data for 2021

HighestChad

91.328

LowestQatar

0.783

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

187countries
1measure
2021the 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, 2021, 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, 2021: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	91.328
2	Niger`NER`Western Africa	90.580
3	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	89.688
4	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	88.974
5	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	87.135
6	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	86.148
7	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	86.147
8	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	85.818
9	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	85.746
10	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	85.481
11	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	84.979
12	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	83.424
13	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	83.382
14	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	83.051
15	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	82.302
16	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	81.894
17	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	81.328
18	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	81.079
19	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	79.551
20	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	79.275
21	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	79.213
22	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	78.871
23	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	78.181
24	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	77.002
25	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	76.754
26	India`IND`Southern Asia	76.654
27	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	76.303
28	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	75.309
29	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	74.777
30	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	73.353
31	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	72.880
32	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	71.334
33	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	70.791
34	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	70.752
35	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	70.415
36	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	70.159
37	Bolivia`BOL`South America	69.336
38	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	68.728
39	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	67.627
40	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	65.880
41	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	65.685
42	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	65.218
43	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	62.226
44	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	61.657
45	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	61.452
46	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	60.555
47	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	59.053
48	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	58.424
49	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	58.225
50	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	57.772
51	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	56.578
52	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	55.221
53	Ecuador`ECU`South America	54.546
54	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	53.126
55	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	53.125
56	Peru`PER`South America	53.038
57	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	52.697
58	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	52.346
59	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	52.229
60	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	52.114
61	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	51.887
62	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	49.138
63	Colombia`COL`South America	47.381
64	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	46.996
65	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	46.261
66	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	46.187
67	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	45.917
68	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	45.207
69	Honduras`HND`Central America	45.168
70	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	44.595
71	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	44.421
72	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	44.267
73	Paraguay`PRY`South America	44.239
74	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	43.864
75	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	42.772
76	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	42.743
77	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	42.709
78	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	41.008
79	Panama`PAN`Central America	40.854
80	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	40.208
81	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	39.267
82	Venezuela`VEN`South America	38.768
83	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	38.644
84	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	38.413
85	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	37.878
86	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	37.228
87	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	36.829
88	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	36.788
89	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	36.432
90	Guyana`GUY`South America	35.775
91	Belize`BLZ`Central America	35.568
92	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	35.066
93	Brazil`BRA`South America	33.517
94	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	32.734
95	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	32.518
96	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	32.379
97	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	32.301
98	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	32.062
99	Mexico`MEX`Central America	31.910
100	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	31.825
101	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	31.448
102	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	30.777
103	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	30.135
104	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	30.090
105	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	28.562
106	Uruguay`URY`South America	28.421
107	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	28.273
108	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	28.259
109	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	27.780
110	Argentina`ARG`South America	27.589
111	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	27.419
112	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	27.392
113	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	26.717
114	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	26.507
115	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	26.465
116	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	26.351
117	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	26.041
118	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	25.808
119	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	25.217
120	Chile`CHL`South America	24.926
121	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	24.585
122	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	23.906
123	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	23.409
124	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	22.844
125	Suriname`SUR`South America	22.785
126	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	21.832
127	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	21.019
128	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	21.005
129	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	19.501
130	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	19.381
131	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	19.218
132	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	19.017
133	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	18.784
134	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	17.027
135	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	16.974
136	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	16.895
137	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	16.861
138	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	16.791
139	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	16.134
140	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	15.951
141	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	15.854
142	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	15.812
143	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	15.764
144	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	15.646
145	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	15.614
146	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	15.100
147	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	14.939
148	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	14.858
149	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	14.512
150	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	14.509
151	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	14.169
152	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	14.165
153	Canada`CAN`Northern America	14.003
154	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	13.922
155	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	13.641
156	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	13.585
157	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	13.118
158	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	12.733
159	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	12.660
160	France`FRA`Western Europe	12.614
161	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	12.556
162	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	11.998
163	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	11.871
164	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	11.852
165	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	11.663
166	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	11.627
167	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	11.226
168	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	11.187
169	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	10.644
170	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	10.352
171	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	9.228
172	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	8.986
173	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	8.881
174	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	8.827
175	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	8.369
176	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	7.929
177	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	7.570
178	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	6.722
179	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	6.668
180	United States`USA`Northern America	6.583
181	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	6.574
182	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	5.137
183	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	4.860
184	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	4.412
185	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	2.814
186	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	2.744
187	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.783

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Chad91.328
2Niger90.580
3Sierra Leone89.688
4Madagascar88.974
5Nigeria87.135

Lowest

187Qatar0.783
186Bahrain2.744
185Kuwait2.814
184United Arab Emirates4.412
183Norway4.860

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 32.734. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
187values changed, of 187 in both
38 · 149rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Guatemala41.707 → 46.187+4.480
Luxembourg9.488 → 11.871+2.383
Thailand50.523 → 52.697+2.174
Mexico30.360 → 31.910+1.550
Kenya64.355 → 65.880+1.525

Fell most

Rwanda43.430 → 37.878−5.552
Mali85.304 → 81.079−4.224
Armenia39.702 → 36.788−2.914
Peru55.916 → 53.038−2.878
Montenegro21.524 → 19.218−2.306

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 2021.
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-2021-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) (2021). Self-Employment Rate, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/self-employment/2021

0635 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Self-Employment Rate, 2020
187 countries
The year after ›
Self-Employment Rate, 2022
186 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