Self-employment
Published
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1. Main facts and figures
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in 2016, 15% of workers in the UK were self-employed
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self-employment was most common in the Pakistani/Bangladeshi workforce – 22% of workers were self-employed
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Black workers were the least likely to be self-employed (11%)
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there was an increase in self-employment across all ethnic groups between 2011 and 2016
Things you need to know
This data comes from the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is the largest ongoing household survey in the UK and has a sample size of 320,000 respondents. The survey is based on interviews with members of randomly selected households.
Although this is a relatively large survey, and the results are presented for broad ethnic groupings, some caution should still be used when comparing estimates for ethnic groups or looking at changes over time. This is because they are survey estimates based on a sample of the population and are subject to a degree of uncertainty.
Because fewer people from ethnic minority backgrounds took part in the survey, the resulting estimates for ethnic groups are less reliable than for the White group. Presenting the findings for broad ethnic groupings, as we have done here, provides more reliable estimates by ethnicity. But it means we cannot show differences between more specific ethnic groups.
When observing trends in these statistics, you should not infer the existence or absence of trends outside the time period covered by this measure.
What the data measures
This data shows the percentage of the workforce that is self-employed, and is presented for each ethnic group.
The ‘workforce’ means everyone aged 16 or over who is working, whether as an employee or self-employed.
The ethnic categories used in this data
The analysis used the following broad ethnic categories:
- White
- Black/Black British
- Mixed
- Indian
- Pakistani/Bangladeshi
- Other (which includes Chinese, Other Asian and other ethnic groups)
2. Self-employment in the UK by ethnicity over time
| Ethnicity | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Black | 8.1 | 9.9 | 9.9 | 10.2 | 10.9 | 10.7 |
| Indian | 11.5 | 13.2 | 13.6 | 12.2 | 13.7 | 14.0 |
| Mixed | 11.7 | 11.6 | 11.2 | 14.8 | 11.3 | 14.6 |
| Pakistani/Bangladeshi | 21.4 | 22.8 | 20.6 | 21.0 | 21.8 | 22.1 |
| White | 14.0 | 14.3 | 14.4 | 14.8 | 14.8 | 15.2 |
| Other | 15.1 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 16.9 | 15.0 | 16.5 |
Download table data for ‘Self-employment in the UK by ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Self-employment in the UK by ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Self-employment Self-employment in the UK by ethnicity over time Summary
This data shows that:
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there was an increase in self-employment over the 5 years presented, from 14% of all workers in 2011 to 15% in 2016
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self-employment rates increased for all ethnic groups during this time over this period, Pakistani and Bangladeshi workers remained the most likely to be self-employed, and Black workers, the least
3. Methodology
The Annual Population Survey comprises 12 months of survey data. It combines data from four successive quarters of the Labour Force Survey with rolling year data from the English, Welsh and Scottish Local Labour Force Surveys. The achieved sample size is approximately 320,000 respondents.
The APS is weighted to reflect the size and composition of the general population, using the most up-to-date official population data. Interviews are carried out either on a face-to-face basis, with the help of laptops or on the telephone.
Self-employment figures are shown as estimates for each calendar year.
Although the data is collected for 18 ethnic groups, analysis by BEIS is grouped under broad ethnic categories. This improves the reliability of the estimates and allows robust samples to be used. BEIS’s analysis differentiates between the Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups and the Indian group to reflect the different employment-related outcomes among Asians. This is also in line with other labour market publications on the ONS platform, NOMIS.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
Sample sizes of less than 30 have been suppressed
Rounding
Percentages have been rounded to one decimal place. For the number of self-employed individuals, the figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
4. Data sources
Source
Labour Force Survey, 2011 to 2016
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Publication frequency
Ad-hoc
Purpose of data source
The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the largest ongoing household survey in the UK and covers a range of topics, including:
- personal characteristics
- labour market status
- work characteristics
- education
- health
The purpose of the APS is to provide information on important social and socio-economic variables at local levels, such as labour market estimates.
The published statistics also allow government to monitor estimates on a range of issues between censuses.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, value, denominator, numerator