The number of self-employed workers in Belgium rose again in 2022, as it has done for almost 20 years, the National Social Insurance Institute for the Self-Employed (INASTI) announced on Tuesday.
At the end of 2022, there were 1,257,356 self-employed persons in the country, which was 2.19% more than a year earlier.
“It is positive to note that for almost 20 consecutive years, the number of people choosing to become self-employed has been growing,” Federal Minister for the Self-Employed David Clarinval was quoted as saying in a press release.
He saw this as evidence “that the social status of the self-employed is becoming increasingly attractive... This is an encouraging signal for continuing to improve this social status."
The number of persons self-employed in their main activity rose by 1.08%, from 786,772 to 795,282. The increase for men was 1.18%, while the number of women went up by 0.88%.
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The number of persons self-employed in a complementary activity also increased – to 323,494, up from 313,530 in 2021. The increase was greater among women (4.39%) than among men (2.26%).
The year 2022 was also marked by a 6.5% increase, from 130,117 to 138,580, in the number of self-employed persons active after attaining pensionable age.
On the other hand, the number of self-employed students fell last year by 4.65% to 8,690.
Of the 124,048 “starters” in 2022 – including new affiliations, resumption of activity and compulsory affiliations – 34,631 people, or more than a quarter, were non-nationals, including 1,141 Ukrainians.
