Insee Première · September 2024 · n° 2012

Earned incomes of self-employed in 2022 The earned incomes of self-employed fell in constant euros after the sharp rise in 2021

At the end of 2022, 4.0 million people were self-employed in France. Excluding the agricultural sector, the number of so‑called "traditional" self-employed persons, which had been falling between 2014 and 2020, rose slightly for the second year running: +0.4% in 2022, after +0.5% in 2021. The number of micro-entrepreneurs, meanwhile, continued to rise more sharply (+7.9% in 2022), and now accounted for almost half of all self‑employed persons. The total number of self-employed persons (excluding the agricultural sector) was up by 1.5 million compared to the end of 2008, or +72%.

The average income of self-employed persons rebounded in 2021 with the recovery from the health crisis. In 2022, against a backdrop of high inflation, income for self‑employed persons fell sharply, by 6.9% in constant euros. This slowdown was accentuated by the end of the contribution‑reduction measures that supported incomes in 2020 and 2021. The average income of "traditional" self‑employed persons fell sharply (5.2% in constant euros, after +9.6% in 2021), and was 2.0% below its pre‑crisis level, while that of microentrepreneurs increased slightly again (+1.4%, after +12.8% in 2021), and exceeded its pre‑crisis level by 6.1%.