The bar chart illustrates the percentage of self employed individuals of the total workforce in 1998 and 2008.
In general, the most noticeable trend is that despite the dramatic decline in 2008, in Turkey and Greece the number of workers who work for themselves is higher than in the rest countries in both periods. While in Russia, Czech Republic and Slovakia the number of self employed people slightly increased.
The percentage of self employment in Turkey and Greece was considerably higher that in the Russia, Czech Republic and Slovakia(approximately 43%, 56% compared to less than 10% and about 11% in Slovakia respectively). While the number in Russia, Czech Republic and Slovakia rose slightly, Turkey and Greece experienced dramatic fall. The percentage of self employment of total employment before the dramatic drop was about 43% and 56% in Greece and Turkey respectively. In 2008 the number declined to about 35% and 39% respectively. Slovakia increased by almost 5 percentage points, reaching approximately 11% in 2008 compared to 6% in 1998. Meanwhile, Russia and Czech remained relatively stable at around 5-6% and 11-14% respectively.