At the end of 2017, 3.2 million people in France were self-employed, with self-employment representing their main source of income or supplementing their wage income. Whether farmers, traders, craftspeople or liberal professionals, they were, on average, older than salaried workers and were most likely to be employed in the construction, trade or health sectors. Women were in the minority among self‑employed workers (24% in agriculture, 37% in other sectors).

Excluding agriculture, the number of self-employed workers rose sharply at the beginning of the decade, before virtually stagnating between 2013 and 2017. In total, their numbers increased by 33% between 2008 and 2017. This trend can be explained by the success of the “auto-entrepreneur” status, created in 2009 and renamed “micro-entrepreneur” in 2014. At the end of 2017, 928,000 micro-entrepreneurs were economically active, representing one out of every three self-employed workers in the non-agricultural sectors. Their numbers were particularly high in home delivery services, non-store retail trade (via stalls and markets, remote sales or other channels) and personal services. Three out of ten micro-entrepreneurs combined self-employment with a salaried job, compared to one out of ten traditional self-employed workers.

In 2017, traditional self-employed workers (excluding micro-entrepreneurs) earned an average of 3,580 euros per month, i.e. 10.1% more than in 2013 (in constant euros). The lowest paying sectors were non-store retail trade, taxi and HCD services, personal services, arts, entertainment and recreation, and education. At the other end of the scale, average earned incomes were highest in medicine, the legal and accounting professions, and the pharmaceutical trade. In 2017, micro-entrepreneurs earned an average of 470 euros per month, with little difference across sectors.

Earned income was more dispersed and more concentrated among self-employedworkers than among private-sector employees. In particular, among traditional self‑employed workers (excluding agriculture and zero income), the lowest paid 50% earned just 16% of total income (compared to 29% for employees), while the top 10% of earners alone accounted for 40% (compared to 27% for employees).