The self-employed database is based on the social declarations of self-employed persons, coming from two main suppliers:
- the Central Agency of Social Security Organisations (Acoss), pilot of the Urssaf network. This covers personal social security contributions for family allowances and the CSG-CRDS based on the remuneration of all self-employed, apart from the agricultural sector;
- the Caisse centrale de la mutualité sociale agricole (CCMSA), which covers social contributions in the agricultural sector.

These data are completed each year with variables from:
- on the one hand, annual social data declarations (DADS) completed by all private companies employing employees. These data are complemented by data from the Public Service Employee Information System (Siasp). The database thus gathers information on the salaried positions held by self-employed who had also a salaried job during the year (multi-activity);
- on the other hand, the "Business Register Identification System (Sirene)" directory (annual reference frame for active establishments as well as a complete directory), then the Registration System to the Statistical Unit Register (Sirus- generic reference frame). This operation makes it possible in particular to validate the SIREN/SIRET identifiers, to determine the real activity of the owner-operators of corporations (SA & SAS excluded) and to enrich the data with characteristics of the companies.

The self-employed annual database contains all individuals who are affiliated with a social protection (or welfare) scheme for self-employed workers and who had at least one day of activity in the year.

The earned income of self-employed persons is calculated on the basis of their taxable professional income, where certain tax breaks and voluntary social contributions are reincluded. In practice, it corresponds to the basis used to calculate personal contributions to family allowances.

Classifications used in the self-employed database are as follows:
- the French classification of  economic activities (NAF rev. 2, used at its finest level);
- the classification of legal categories (business legal status), also used at the most detailed level (level III);
- the classification of professions and socio-professional categories (PCS-ESE) for salaried positions held by self-employed is used at its most detailed level (level 3);
- the official geographical code used at the municipality level.

These classifications are also available under insee.fr.

The number of self-employed workers and their earned incomes are broken down by NAF sectors.

Person

The self-employed database contains almost exhaustively the persons affiliated with a social protection (or welfare) scheme for self-employed workers: the social scheme for self-employed persons (RSI), the scheme for liberal professions via the Urssaf or the agricultural scheme via the Agricultural Social Mutuality (MSA).
This field is complementary to that covered by the sources processing social declarations related to employees.
On the one hand, the non-employee database covers all independant workers in household market enterprises (including micro-entrepreneurs) and the majority managers (business owners) of limited liability companies (SARL, SELARL).
On the other hand, non-owner-operators of corporations (SARL), as well as operators of public limited companies (SA) or simplified joint stock companies (SAS), who are considered as employees regarding the social security schemes and therefore contribute to the employees' funds, are not covered.
Collaborating spouses and family workers are not included in the scope.
Some independent professions of the cultural sectors, such as artist-authors contributing to the Agessa, are also absent from statistical sources. In the absence of exploitable information, fishermen are excluded from the field.

For MSA data, joint and several contributors, working on an area less than half the minimum installation area (MIS), are excluded from the field.

For some activities, the social protection system depends on the geographical area: in particular, the activities of landscaping services and equestrian centres, agricultural and forestry work companies are covered by the MSA in metropolitan France and by Acoss in the French overseas departments.

Year 2015.