Self-employment can signal the presence of an entrepreneurial spirit in dynamic and innovative economies; however it might also indicate the precarious nature of employment contracts. While the self-employed seek to benefit from greater autonomy and flexibility at work, at times like these, the self-employed might be among those most economically affected by the corona virus.
In 2018, self-employment provided work to around one in seven (14%) employed persons aged 20-64 years across the EU (26 million persons). Among EU regions, the highest share of self-employment was recorded in the southern Greek region of Peloponnisos, as more than two fifths (42%) of its workforce was self-employed in 2018. With self-employment rates starting at 31%, 11 of 13 Greek regions recorded the highest rates among EU regions.
Source datasets: lfst_r_lfe2estat
In contrast, the lowest share of self-employment was registered in Romania’s capital city region of Bucureşti-Ilfov (4%), followed by Észak-Magyarország in Hungary and Vest in Romania (both 6%) as well as Övre Norrland in Sweden (7%). Some of the lowest shares of self-employment (at around 7%) were generally recorded in northern and western regions of the EU: in several northern regions of Germany (Sachsen-Anhalt, Arnsberg, Braunschweig, Oberfranken and Münster), Denmark (Nordjylland and Midtjylland) and Luxembourg (single region at this level of detail).
A glance at the capital city regions
In many northern and western EU Member States, it was common for capital city regions to record some of the highest shares of self-employment, such as Noord-Holland in the Netherlands (20%), Région de Bruxelles-Capitale in Belgium (15%) and Berlin in Germany (14%).
In contrast, the highest shares of self-employment in eastern and southern regions of the EU were usually spread over rural regions, with many of the self-employed working in the agricultural sector. Praha (21%), Budapest (14%) and Zahodna Slovenija (13%) were notable exceptions as they had the highest self-employment rates among the Czech, Hungarian and Slovenian regions.
Note: The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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