Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
UK self-employment - Statistics & Facts
There were approximately 4.3 million self-employed workers in the United Kingdom in 2024, down from a peak of over five million in early 2020. Although self-employment was growing at a fairly consistent pace before 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced self-employment in the UK, falling by around 782,000 workers in one year. While there has been a recent uptick since 2022, self-employment in the UK has struggled to reach previous levels, and it will likely be some time before self-employment fully recovers from the pandemic.
