Self-employment rates in the US are relatively low and this could largely be explained by the hefty tax contributions independent workers are forced to pay – twice the amount of Social Security and Medicare as their full-time counterparts. Those that have made the switch to self-employment are mainly working in sectors such as construction, professional and business services, educational services, health care and social assistance.
The fact that Sweden's employees receive ample social benefits and plenty of holiday time would make it seem an unlikely country for entrepreneurship. However, it is currently ranked as the second best country for business by Forbes, and Stockholm is one of the most lucrative tech hubs in the world, which has acted as a hotbed for successful startups such as music streaming service Spotify. Sweden also now has 20 start-ups per 1,000 employees, while the US has just five.
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Around one in ten of Japan's workers are currently self-employed, with 84% of those registered as sole traders. The marine fishery/aquaculture sector is particularly popular, with 95,750 self-employed people in 2016, compared to 64,280 hired employees. The number of self-employed service staff such as home care workers is also increasing, thanks to the country's large ageing population, many of them turning to self-employment themselves in order to keep working past retirement age.
The number of self-employed people in France has been at a consistent level for a number of years. However, the number of companies being founded is increasing; in January 2018 there were 55,675 new enterprises across the country, a 20% rise on the previous year. Setting up a small business is relatively hassle-free thanks to the micro-entrepreneur status, enabling sole traders an easy registration and the ability to participate in simple tax and accounting procedures.
Switzerland is currently in second place on the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index rankings, with self-employment being particularly common in those over 65 (43%). While the country has a low unemployment rate in comparison to other European countries, it currently sits at its highest rate for 12 years. This has further boosted self-employment, as well as the general gig economy – the accounting firm Deloitte found that 25% of the country's working population are temps or hired on a per-project basis.
Many of Ireland's self-employed workers are based in rural counties, where work such as agriculture and construction are often the only viable sources of income. Self-employment rates in Ireland have actually slowed in recent years thanks to a recovery of the traditional labour market. Figures from Western Development Commission (WDC) show that in 2016 there was an increase in employees of 12.9%, compared to just 2.3% self-employed people.
The number of self-employed people in the UK has seen a rapid rise over the last 20 years, increasing from 3.3 million in 2001 to 4.8 million in 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Shopkeeping, hairdressing and domestic cleaning are among the most popular jobs for independent workers. Most small businesses exist among sectors such as crop and animal production, construction, retail, services and land transport. In fact, 75% of these businesses do not employ anyone.
While the Czech Republic economy is predicted to slow to 2.2% growth, unemployment has remained lowest in the European Union according to Eurostat. Salaries have also started to increase – so it is perhaps surprising that a large proportion of the population would turn to self-employment. However, the number of start-ups is rising rapidly thanks to encouragement from government agencies, so much so that the country takes second place in Central Europe for the number of newly-launched small enterprises.
New Zealand's construction sector is an important one for self-employed workers with 17% of its workforce being registered as such. In fact, as much as 70% of the country's enterprises are sole traders with no employees, and 28% of these are within the rental, hiring and real estate industry. Other popular sectors include agriculture, forestry and fishing, professional and technical services, and finance. The majority of the growth in self-employment over the last 10 years has been for people aged 50 and over.
The strong Polish economy, along with its business-friendly environment, has made it a popular place to work independently. The majority (78.3%) of those who are registered as self-employed in the country are sole proprietors without employees. With unemployment being low, the most popular reason (26%) for becoming self-employed is to take over a family business.
Self-employment is relatively high in Italy, and has been for a long time. This is partly due to the large numbers of craftspeople, shopkeepers and farmers, and in more recent times high unemployment rates. With unemployment in young people in Italy higher than all other European countries except Greece, more young Italians are turning to entrepreneurship as a source of income.
There is a high number of self-employed people in South Korea due to the large number of small businesses. However, these 'mom-and-pop' stores have been hit hard in recent years thanks to low consumer spending, rapidly rising rents and heavy competition. The decrease in tourism has also had a negative impact on small enterprises, as has the rise in minimum wage in 2018. Due to these factors, around one million self-employed people actually closed their businesses in 2018.
Mexico's economy is seeing slow growth, leading to an increase in unemployment. This, coupled with more job losses caused by automation, has seen a rise in the number of people launching their own businesses. Technology becoming more affordable has been a big help, as has better connectivity. The thriving tourism industry has encouraged new enterprises in related sectors, while FinTech companies are also boosting levels of entrepreneurship.
Brazil's economic crisis has left millions of people unemployed. As a result, more people are turning to self-employment, including freelancing in roles such as maids, bricklayers and truck drivers. It's been estimated that around 39.5 million Brazilians have been forced into casual, precarious jobs due to the lack of opportunities available.
High levels of unemployment following the currency crisis in 2018 have meant more people turning to self-employment in Turkey. The country also has a rigid labour market and severance payments are often very costly, which have contributed to high self-employment. According to a study by Aegon, just 20% of those working independently expect to retire at 65 compared to an average of 40% globally, demonstrating the uncertainty following the economic downturn.
Unemployment in Greece currently sits at 19.3%, according to OECD, and this in turn has led to a higher number of people working for themselves. The majority of the country's businesses are small enterprises. Eures notes that 85% have fewer than five employees and 80% have turnover up to €150,000 ($170k, £134k).
Nearly half of the working population in China is currently self-employed. A large proportion of these freelancers are made up of the 150 million migrant workers from the country's rural areas. In general, those from rural areas turn to self-employment as a way to avoid low paying city jobs, while those from cities turn to entrepreneurship as a way to avoid unemployment.