Data for 1999

Self-Employment Rate, 1999

1999, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Self-Employment Rate, 1999 covers 187 countries. Afghanistan is highest, at 95.00; Qatar is lowest, at 1.27. The middle country reads 39.01. Against 1998, 187 values changed (53 up, 134 down), the same countries are covered.

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Self-Employment Rate · Data for 1999

HighestAfghanistan

95.00

LowestQatar

1.27

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end. Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.

187countries
1measure
1999the year it describes
187distinct values14 decimals, as published
Sep 10, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Self-Employment Rate, 1999, as published. ILO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 187 countries · select a heading to sort

Self-Employment Rate, 1999: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	95.00
2	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	94.94
3	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	94.17
4	GuineaGINWestern Africa	93.71
5	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	93.08
6	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	92.66
7	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	91.69
8	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	90.28
9	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	88.66
10	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	88.56
11	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	87.70
12	NigerNERWestern Africa	86.25
13	BeninBENWestern Africa	86.06
14	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	85.36
15	MaliMLIWestern Africa	85.08
16	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	84.96
17	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	84.89
18	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	84.58
19	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	84.29
20	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	83.85
21	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	83.83
22	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	83.59
23	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	83.22
24	TogoTGOWestern Africa	83.14
25	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	83.01
26	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	82.79
27	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	82.12
28	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	81.50
29	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	81.24
30	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	79.26
31	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	79.21
32	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	78.32
33	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	78.07
34	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	77.16
35	BoliviaBOLSouth America	76.34
36	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	76.33
37	HaitiHTICaribbean	76.03
38	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	74.49
39	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	74.28
40	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	72.99
41	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	72.25
42	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	68.82
43	SenegalSENWestern Africa	68.49
44	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	68.00
45	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	67.03
46	KenyaKENEastern Africa	66.83
47	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	66.70
48	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	65.19
49	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	65.08
50	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	64.08
51	PeruPERSouth America	63.65
52	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	62.32
53	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	62.23
54	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	60.58
55	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	59.59
56	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	58.02
57	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	56.93
58	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	56.52
59	ParaguayPRYSouth America	56.44
60	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	55.59
61	TongaTONPolynesia	54.31
62	EritreaERIEastern Africa	53.90
63	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	52.59
64	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	52.31
65	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	52.18
66	EcuadorECUSouth America	51.40
67	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	51.12
68	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	50.51
69	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	50.09
70	YemenYEMWestern Asia	49.76
71	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	49.65
72	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	49.56
73	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	48.70
74	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	48.41
75	HondurasHNDCentral America	48.07
76	SamoaWSMPolynesia	48.06
77	IranIRNSouthern Asia	47.96
78	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	47.12
79	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	45.89
80	NicaraguaNICCentral America	45.85
81	GabonGABMiddle Africa	44.66
82	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	43.81
83	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	43.52
84	ColombiaCOLSouth America	42.86
85	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	42.69
86	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	42.43
87	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	42.28
88	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	41.95
89	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	41.65
90	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	40.80
91	VenezuelaVENSouth America	39.71
92	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	39.06
93	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	39.02
94	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	39.01
95	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	38.27
96	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	38.23
97	FijiFJIMelanesia	37.70
98	GuyanaGUYSouth America	37.51
99	PanamaPANCentral America	37.20
100	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	36.85
101	IraqIRQWestern Asia	36.64
102	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	35.93
103	MexicoMEXCentral America	35.82
104	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	35.35
105	BrazilBRASouth America	35.30
106	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	34.74
107	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	34.62
108	BelizeBLZCentral America	34.45
109	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	33.10
110	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	32.34
111	Costa RicaCRICentral America	32.04
112	PolandPOLEastern Europe	31.67
113	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	30.87
114	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	30.84
115	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	30.55
116	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	29.80
117	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	29.78
118	ItalyITASouthern Europe	28.30
119	UruguayURYSouth America	27.02
120	ArgentinaARGSouth America	26.96
121	ChileCHLSouth America	26.79
122	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	26.51
123	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	26.44
124	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	25.55
125	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	25.14
126	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	24.84
127	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	24.80
128	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	23.53
129	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	23.40
130	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	23.37
131	UkraineUKREastern Europe	23.14
132	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	22.96
133	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	22.77
134	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	21.66
135	SpainESPSouthern Europe	21.52
136	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	20.92
137	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	20.73
138	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	20.46
139	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	19.28
140	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	18.67
141	JordanJORWestern Asia	18.35
142	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	18.28
143	SurinameSURSouth America	18.22
144	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	17.98
145	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	17.34
146	GuamGUMMicronesia	17.33
147	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	17.27
148	BahamasBHSCaribbean	17.11
149	CanadaCANNorthern America	16.95
150	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	16.82
151	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	16.81
152	JapanJPNEastern Asia	16.69
153	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	15.70
154	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	15.60
155	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	15.38
156	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	15.36
157	BelarusBLREastern Europe	15.09
158	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	15.07
159	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	14.62
160	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	14.32
161	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	14.07
162	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	13.88
163	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	13.77
164	IsraelISRWestern Asia	12.83
165	OmanOMNWestern Asia	12.82
166	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	12.68
167	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	12.27
168	FranceFRAWestern Europe	12.14
169	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	11.21
170	CubaCUBCaribbean	11.06
171	MacauMACEastern Asia	10.86
172	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	10.79
173	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	10.32
174	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	9.77
175	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	9.29
176	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	9.13
177	Channel IslandsCHINorthern Europe	9.10
178	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	8.77
179	United StatesUSANorthern America	8.10
180	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	8.07
181	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	7.62
182	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	7.03
183	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	6.56
184	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	4.28
185	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	3.50
186	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	3.45
187	QatarQATWestern Asia	1.27

02In 1999

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Afghanistan95.00
2Chad94.94
3Nigeria94.17
4Guinea93.71
5Sierra Leone93.08

Lowest

187Qatar1.27
186United Arab Emirates3.45
185Kuwait3.50
184Bahrain4.28
183Norway6.56

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 39.01. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031998 → 1999

Since 1998

What changed between 1998 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
187values changed, of 187 in both
53 · 134rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Vietnam74.22 → 77.16+2.94
North Macedonia22.69 → 25.14+2.45
Romania33.82 → 35.93+2.11
Cuba9.59 → 11.06+1.47
Barbados12.72 → 14.07+1.36

Fell most

Equatorial Guinea38.19 → 35.35−2.84
Sri Lanka47.71 → 45.89−1.82
Thailand64.00 → 62.23−1.77
Portugal27.93 → 26.51−1.42
Greece39.64 → 38.23−1.42

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from ILO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1999.
The position is ours
ILO publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 187 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
187 rows · 7.1 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download self-employment-1999-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
ILO’s own file, on its own site.
SL.EMP.SELF.ZS

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0. Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

Cite this edition

International Labour Organization (ILO) (1999). Self-Employment Rate, 1999 [data set], describing 1999. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/self-employment/1999

0635 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Self-Employment Rate, 1998
187 countries
The year after ›
Self-Employment Rate, 2000
187 countries
All of them
Self-Employment Rate: every year
35 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions