During the first six months of 2019, the data published by the Ministry of Labor, Migration and Social Security show an increase in both self-employed individuals and societies. Thus, the self-employed as a natural person, increased during the first six months of the year by 1% (+20,562 entrepreneurs); on the other hand, the number of freelancers registered in the RETA with some kind of legal form increased by a similar percentage, specifically + 1.1% in the first half of the year, which in absolute terms translated into 13,848 freelancers more than at the beginning of the year.
Self-employed, job creators
Here it should be noted that of the two million self-employed individual, one in five (22.2%, 446,285 people) have at least one worker in their care.
The self-employed who generate employment grow. The self-employed individual employers have increased by 2.8% (+12,181 self-employed employers) in the first six months of 2019, growth four times higher than the self-employed who do not have dependent workers, who have only increased +0 ,5%.
Workers hired by freelancers also increase. As of June 30, 2019, the group of self-employed with the highest growth is the group with more than five workers in their charge, which increased 8.8% throughout the semester, to post 49,234 self-employed.
It should be noted that all the segments analyzed added autonomous throughout the first half of the year.
In Spain 839,352 there are self-employed employers according to the Ministry of Labor. In other words, 65.9% of the self-employed have at least one worker.
In total, 39.1% of the self-employed have dependent workers.
If you look at the business size, 30.3% of the self-employed have between 1 and 5 workers (996,075 self-employed employers). If we add freelancers (natural person and corporate without workers) plus those who have up to 5 workers we can say that 90% of the business network in Spain has 0 to 5 workers.
Profile of the autonomous individual
As of this moment, the report prepared by ATA focuses on the self-employed themselves, that is, on the 2014 individual self-employed person.
By sex and age
Of the increase in the number of freelancers who registered the RETA in the first half of 2019, 51.7% were women compared to 48.3% men. The group remains with 35.5% of autonomous women, compared to 64.5% of autonomous men. This percentage varies two tenths compared to December when women accounted for 34.3%.
During the first six months of 2019 both men and women increased, although they are the ones that register the greatest entrepreneurial impulse by growing 1.5% during the first semester compared to the 0.8% registered by men. That is to say, the growth registered by the entrepreneurs doubles that of the men who have decided to establish themselves and start up their business idea.
If you look at age of the self-employed, practically one in two are between 40 and 54 years old. And 27.2% are over 55 years old, a percentage slightly higher than the 26.8% registered in December 2018. Thus, more than seven out of ten freelancers (72.9%) of the self-employed natural person contributing to Social Security in June were over 40 years old.
On the contrary, only 2% of the self-employed are under 25 years old.
If we analyze the evolution of the group during the first semester of the year according to age, it is verified how all age groups have added autonomous, being that of those over 55 years of age the one that has grown the most in the analyzed period, specifically + 2.4%
By seniority of business
In response to the years that the self-employed have led their businesses, it should be noted that, more and more self-employed workers consolidate their businesses and move on.
Mortality of the activities of the self-employed has been reduced since, two out of every three self-employed in our country, specifically 66.1% are over three years old of seniority, Y one in two (54.5%) have been leading their business for more than five years. Only 16.3% of the self-employed are less than one year old as self-employed.
In addition, there is a consolidation of the activities of the self-employed, and the group that has been leading its activity for more than five years increased by 0.7% during the first six months of the year.
The only group that has descended in the first half of the year is the one that has been discharged between 6 and 11 months, since many have managed to consolidate and have become part of the group that has been registered in their activity between 1 and 3 years, which has increased by 7.3%.
As for the contribution base, the 85.6% of the self-employed individual quoted for the minimum base, percentage that although very high is slightly lower than 86% of December 2018. Against this percentage, only 0.7% of the total of freelancers has a contribution base is located more than three times of the minimum base. Thus, there are 14.4% of self-employed individuals who have decided to contribute for a base higher than the minimum established by Social Security.
Only 6.3% of the self-employed individual combine their activity for another person (multi-activity), a group that has increased by 4.8% during the first half of 2019, growth that carries a significant upward line, since the self-employed who dedicate themselves exclusively to their own-account activity have increased throughout 2019 only + 0.8%
As of June 30, 1247,502 are the autonomous individual who are listed in the General Regime and the Autonomous Regime.
As for the self-employed who register as autonomous contributor, that is to say, a relative of the titular self-employed worker who lives and works with him (can be his spouse or a relative until the second degree of consanguinity) have also increased in the first half of 2019, from the 193,999 autonomous registered as Family collaborator at 198,797 as of June 30, 2019.
Refering to nationality of the self-employed, The number of those born outside our borders and who register for RETA continues to increase gradually, until reaching 11.2% of the total of self-employed. The growth rate is 7.6%, compared to 0.3% of the self-employed of Spanish nationality in the first half of the year.
In which sectors do the self-employed work?
By sectors of activity, commerce, agriculture and construction concentrate 44.5% of the total number of self-employed individuals.
At the other extreme, real estate activities is the activity chosen by only 1.1% of the self-employed, 2% in communication, 2.1% financial activities, 2.6 for artistic and entertainment activities and 3, 1% to the education sector.