Freelancers account for 17% of Romania’s workforce, 4th largest share in Europe

In the European Union, 32.6 million people aged 15 to 74 were freelancers in 2018 (14% of the total workforce), with the highest levels in Greece (30%), Italy ( 22%), Poland (18%) and Romania (17%). These countries are followed by the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Spain, each with a weight of 16%, and Portugal, Slovakia and the United Kingdom with 15% each.

In contrast, freelancers accounted for less than 10% of the workforce in Denmark and Luxembourg, 8% each, as well as in Germany and Sweden, both with 9%.

The most popular occupations among self-employed are in the professional category (22%) followed by services and sales (16%), and crafts and other trades (15%). These categories are followed by qualified agricultural, forestry and fishery workers (14%), associated technicians and professions as well as managers (12%). Together, these categories represent 90% of the total number of self-employed.

Two out of three self-employed are men (68%), according to Eurostat data.

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