Over 4 million UK residents now self-employed, according to ONS

Over 4 million people in the UK are now self-employed, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Figures showed that the number of self-employed people increased by 182,000 from January to March. The total number of self-employed people in the UK now stands at 4.69 million, with self-employed workers accounting for 15 per cent of the workforce.

Successes

According to the ONS, self-employed people and freelancers are “driving the successes of the labour market” and contributing towards growth in the economy.

The number of self-employed people is continuing to increase, with recent research showing that more people are becoming confident about the performance of their business.

Research from the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) showed that over 65 per cent of people who are self-employed in the UK are just as confident or more confident over the performance of their business in 2016 as they were last year.

Other recent research from the IPSE showed that freelancers generated £109 billion for the UK economy last year.

Fastest

Commenting on the findings, IPSE Economic Advisor Lorence Nye stated that it was “interesting” that the latest figures show that people in full-time self-employment are the “fastest growing group of workers in the nation.”

“We know people who work for themselves report particularly high levels of job satisfaction and our research shows the vast majority have no intention of returning to traditional employment,” he said.