The given bar chart illustrates the proportions of self-employed workers within the total workforce in five various countries including Russia, Slovakia, Czech, Greece, and Turkey over a period of 10 years (1998-2008).
As can be seen from the chart, it is clear that Turkey and Greece had the highest proportion of self-employed workers in both years (1998 and 2008), followed by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Russia. Notably, Turkey and Greece experienced a decrease in the proportion of self-employed workers in 2008 compared to 1998, while the other countries saw an opposite trend, with an increase in self-employed workers in 2008.
Looking at the details, Russia saw a moderate rise in 2008 from approximately 5% to 8%. Similarly, Slovakia and Czech witnessed a slight increase, making up from approximately 7% to 12% and 11% to 14%.
Moving on to the last two countries, Greece had more self-employed employees in the initial year compared to 2008 at around 40% and 33%. In contrast, although Turkey took the highest percentage in 1998, there is a significant decrease in 2008 accounting for approximately 57% and 39%.