Self-employed persons; income, wealth, characteristics

This table contains statistics regarding income and capital of self-employed persons in the Netherlands. A distinction is made between, on the one hand, persons for whom self-employment provides for the main source of income, and on the other hand all persons with income from self-employed work. The figures in this table are broken down by type of self-employed person, sector, gender, age, migration background, position in the household, and by income and wealth decile groups.

All statistics in this table are at the individual level, this includes capital; (corporate) assets are summed per household and then assigned to all household members, thus serving as a measure of personal prosperity. The sample date for both population and capital is the first of January of the reporting year. For the older years 2007 up to and including 2010, capital is sampled on the first of January of the year following the reporting year.

The General Business Register (ABR) is used to determine the sector (SBI) of self-employed persons. The ABR has been subject to various trend breaks in the period 2007-2011. This leads to a sharp decrease in the number of self-employed persons in the financial services (sector K) in 2010. Therefore caution is advised when consulting sector trends or comparing numbers across sectors.

Data available from: 2007.

Status of the figures:
The figures for 2006 to 2022 are final. The figures for 2023 are preliminary.

Changes as of November 1 2024:
Figures for 2022 have been finalized. Figures for 2023 have been added.

Changes as of March 2022:
Figures on the wealth of the self-employed in 2010 were incorrect, and have been removed. For this year the wealth of 2011 applies, as 2011 marks a shift in sample date from December 31 to January 1. Missing wealth figures for 2013 have been supplemented.

Changes as of July 2021:
Revised data for 2006 to 2019 have been added. Due to the availability of new sources and improvements in the methodology, wealth figures have changed. Additionally everyone with personnel is now classified as self-employed with employee (formerly this distinction was based solely on the enterprise constituting the main source of income).

When will new figures be published?
New figures for 2024 will be published in December 2025.