Number of self-employed people in the UK

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), series MGRQ. Monthly, usually a Tuesday in the middle of the month, 7am, in the ONS labour market release; next release 20 October 2026

Number of self-employed people in the UK: every value, by year, with a CSV download →

What it measures

This is the number of people aged 16 and over in the UK whose main job is self-employment, in thousands, as reported in the Labour Force Survey. It depends on how people describe themselves, so it includes sole traders, freelancers, partners in a business and some company directors who see themselves as self-employed. People who are employees in their main job and do some self-employed work on the side are counted as employees. HMRC figures on Self Assessment returns use tax records instead and give a different total. See also the employment rate.

How to read it

Each value covers three months and is labelled by its middle month. Self-employment counts change slowly, so a move of 20,000 or 30,000 between periods is within the normal noise of a survey this size. The ONS has said that improvements to the Labour Force Survey since January 2024 affect comparisons over time, and that users should focus on longer-term movements. Workforce jobs, a separate ONS measure built partly from business surveys, also has a self-employment component that can move differently.

Background

The ONS monthly series starts in 1992, when about 3.45 million people were self-employed in March to May 1992. The lowest point was 3.23 million in October to December 2000. Numbers then grew for two decades to a series high of 5.02 million in December 2019 to February 2020. They fell during and after the coronavirus pandemic to 4.17 million in February to April 2022 and have since partly recovered. The ONS says some volatility remains in Labour Force Survey estimates for mid-2023 and throughout 2024, so compare those years with care.

Other parts of the UK

ONS labour market in the regions of the UK · NISRA Labour Force Survey (Northern Ireland)

How many people are self-employed in the UK?

The figure at the top of this page is the latest Labour Force Survey estimate, in thousands. When this page was checked on 13 October 2026 it was about 4.53 million in May to July 2026, published on 15 September 2026. It counts people whose main job is self-employment.

What percentage of the UK workforce is self-employed?

Divide the self-employed figure by total employment for the same three months; both are in the ONS labour market release (total employment is series MGRZ). In the September 2026 release, 4.53 million of the 34.48 million people in work in May to July 2026 were self-employed, about one in eight.

Why did self-employment fall after 2020?

The ONS estimates show a fall of about 850,000 between early 2020 and early 2022. Part of that reflects people moving into employee jobs or leaving work during the pandemic, and the ONS has published quality reports on how falling survey response affected Labour Force Survey estimates over this period.

Does HMRC publish a different number?

Yes. HMRC counts people who report self-employment income on Self Assessment tax returns, including those whose main job is as an employee. Its figures cover tax years and are published well after the year ends, so they will not match the Labour Force Survey count.

Related questions

• How many people are self-employed in the UK?
• How many people are on zero-hours contracts in the UK?
• What is the average salary in the UK?
• How is UK unemployment calculated?

More on this source: UK labour market statistics (ONS, Nomis and the gender pay gap reporting service)