The bar chart illustrates the percentages of self-employed people in five different countries in 1998 and 2008.
Overall, while the percentage of self-employed people in Russia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic increased over the ten year period, the figures for Greece and Turkey declined. Furthermore, the percentage of self-employed people in Turkey was highest in both years.
In 1998, the percentage of self-employed people in Russia accounted for 5% of the total labour force, increasing by around 2% by 2008. The Czech Republic saw a similar increase of around 3%, rising from 11% to 14%. Meanwhile, Slovakia’s self-employment figures doubled over the ten year period from around 6% to 12%.
The percentage of self-employed people in Greece in 1998 was 42%, however it had dropped by around 5% by 2008. Additionally, Turkey had the largest percentage of self-employed people at around 56% of the workforce. However, this figure did decline significantly over the period to around 38% in 2008.
