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Number of Freelancers (2024)

by Fabio Duarte
February 19, 2024

Freelancing has grown enormously in recent years.

From the pandemic to the creator economy to new technologies, more and more people are working for themselves than ever before.

We’ll dive deeper into just how many people freelance in 2024 below.

Contents

Top Freelancer Stats (Editor’s Choice)

Before we dive in, here are the top 5 freelance statistics for 2024:

  • There are nearly 75 million freelancers in the US
  • Around 9 in 20 workers are self-employed
  • Niger is the country with the highest proportion of self-employment (95.1%)
  • The arts & design industry has the highest self-employment rate (77%)
  • Gen Z is the generation most likely to freelance

How Many Freelancers Are There In the US?

As of 2024, there are an estimated 76.4 million freelancers in the United States.

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This figure has grown year-over-year by at least 2 million since 2017. And by 2028, the latest data suggests there will be over 90 million US freelancers.

This is how the US gig economy is expected to progress over the next few years:

Year

Number of Freelancers

Change over Previous Year

2017

57.3 million

-

2018

59.7 million

↑ 2.4 million

2019

62.2 million

↑ 2.5 million

2020

64.8 million

↑ 2.6 million

2021

67.6 million

↑ 2.8 million

2022

70.4 million

↑ 2.8 million

2023

73.3 million

↑ 2.9 million

2024

76.4 million

↑ 3.1 million

2025

79.6 million

↑ 3.2 million

2026

83 million

↑ 3.4 million

2027

86.5 million

↑ 3.5 million

2028

90.1 million

↑ 3.6 million

Approximately 59 million (36% of the US workforce) are classified as independent workers.

Here’s the distribution of the US workforce according to a 2022 survey:

Type of Work

Number of US Workers

Permanent Workers

100 million

Gig and contract, freelance, and temporary workers

26 million

Contract, freelance, and temporary only

29 million

Gig only

14 million

Unemployed

6 million

Sources: Edelman, Bureau of Labor Statistics 

How Many Freelancers Are There Worldwide?

Approximately 1.57 billion people are self-employed around the globe.

That figure accounts for nearly half (46.6%) of the global workforce.

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Source: World Bank

Freelancing in Other Regions

According to recent data, Niger has the highest recorded proportion of freelance workers (95.1%).

Here are the top 10 countries ranked by proportion of self-employment:

Rank

Country

Self-Employment Percentage

1

Niger

95.1%

2

Central African Republic

93.2%

3

Chad

92.6%

4

Guinea

91.9%

5

Somalia

91.7%

6

South Sudan

91.6%

7

Sierra Leone

90.3%

8

Equatorial Guinea

88.4%

9

Benin

88.1%

10

Madagascar

87.8%

Each of the top 10 nations by the proportion of freelance workers is located in Africa. In fact, only two of the top 25 countries are not African:

  • 11th - North Korea (87.2% self-employed)
  • 18th - Afghanistan (82.2% self-employed)

Below are the highest-ranked nations by proportion of self-employment for selected regions:

Region

Regional Average

Highest-Ranked Country (Rank)

Self-Employment

Sub-Saharan Africa

75.2%

Niger (1)

95.1%

South Asia

71.6%

Nepal (26)

77.3%

East Asia and Pacific

43.5%

North Korea (11)

87.2%

Latin America and Caribbean

38.2%

Haiti (33)

73.5%

Middle-East and North Africa

29.7%

Afghanistan (18)

82.2%

European Union

15.2%

Greece (100)

31.9%

North America

7.1%

Canada (142)

15.2%

On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest-ranked nations by self-employment proportion are as follows:

Rank

Country

Region

Self-Employment

178

Belarus

Eastern Europe

4.3%

179

Oman

Middle-East

3.7%

180

Bahrain

Middle-East

2.7%

181

Kuwait

Middle-East

1.8%

182

Qatar

Middle-East

0.4%

Focusing on income, low-income countries have an average self-employment rate of 80%. By contrast, high-income countries have an average self-employment rate of just 12.4%.

Here’s a breakdown of how national income affects the self-employment rate:

National Income

Self-Employment

Low

80%

Lower-Middle

39.6%

Middle

51.4%

Higher-Middle

63.4%

High

12.4%

Source: World Bank

Who is Freelancing in 2023?

Industry

The arts & design industry has the highest proportion of freelance workers in the US - around 3 in 4 are self-employed.

In contrast, just 19% of office workers and administrative support employees are freelancers.

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This is how American industries compare in terms of freelance employment: 

Industry

Proportion of Freelancers

Arts & design

77%

Marketing

58%

Computers/Mathematics

53%

Construction

52%

Personal care/Wellness service

48%

Transportation

39%

Finance/Business operations

37%

Sales

33%

Education

31%

Management

29%

Healthcare support

28%

Food prep/Service

25%

Healthcare

24%

Production/Manufacturing

20%

Office work/Administrative support

19%

Age

According to 2020 data, there is a direct correlation between age and freelancing.

Half of all US Gen Zers (18 to 22-year-olds) participate in freelance work. That figure steadily drops off with each older generation and sits at 26% for baby boomers (55+ years old).

Here’s the full picture:

Generation

Proportion of People Who Have Freelanced in Last Year

Gen Z (18-22 yo)

50%

Millennial (23-38 yo)

44%

Gen X (39-54 yo)

30%

Baby Boomers (55+ yo)

26%

Another recent survey corroborated these findings.

When asked about earning money via freelancing, the youngest age group (18-29 year-olds) topped each of the following:

  • Share of respondents currently freelancing (9%)
  • Share of respondents who freelanced in the past 12 months, but not currently (13%)
  • Share of respondents who freelanced 12+ months ago (9%)

Here’s the full breakdown:

Age

Currently Freelancing

Freelanced in Last Year

Freelanced Over a Year Ago

Combined

18 to 29 yo

9%

13%

9%

31%

30 to 49 yo

4%

6%

8%

18%

50 to 64 yo

3%

4%

6%

13%

65+ yo

1%

1%

4%

6%

Race

Statistically, Hispanic people are more than 4x more likely to be currently freelancing. If you’re Hispanic, you are also approximately twice as likely to freelance than if you’re Black or Asian. 

Here’s a look at the proportion of freelancers by race in the US:

Race

Currently Freelancing

Freelanced in Last Year

Freelanced Over a Year Ago

Combined

Hispanic

9%

11%

10%

30%

Black

5%

6%

9%

20%

Asian

4%

8%

6%

18%

White

2%

4%

6%

12%

Gender

Differences in the likelihood of freelancing are far less pronounced between genders compared to age or race:

Gender

Currently Freelancing

Freelanced in Last Year

Freelanced Over a Year Ago

Combined

Women

4%

6%

7%

17%

Men

4%

5%

6%

15%

Education

Over half of post-graduates in the US (51%) do freelance work - an increase of 6% over 2019’s figures. That’s at least 16% higher than any other education level.

By comparison, just 31% of Americans without an education level higher than high school work as freelancers.

Here’s how education affects the likelihood of freelancing:

Highest Education Level

Proportion of Freelancers

High school graduate or less

51%

Some college or associate degree

35%

Bachelor’s degree

35%

Post-graduate degree

31%

Sources: Upwork, Pew Research Center

Top Reasons for Freelancing

More than half of US freelancers (56%) agree the leading reason for taking work on a gig platform is to save up extra money.

This is followed by needing to cover gaps or a change in income (52%).

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Here’s a full breakdown of the 2021 survey:

Reason for Taking Gig Work

Reason Cited

Wanting to save extra money

56%

Needing to cover gaps, changes in income

52%

Being able to control own schedule

49%

Wanting to be own boss

35%

For fun, something to do in spare time

32%

Not having many local job opportunities

28%

In general, there appears to be a correlation between freelancers and an optimistic outlook.

From a survey of over 25,000 Americans, around 1 in 3 freelancers expect to have more economic opportunities in 12 months' time - that's compared to 1 in 5 of all workers.

Similarly, over 40% of freelancers think that there will be continuous economic growth in five years. By comparison, around one-third of all workers agree.

According to McKinsey, the most common reason for engaging in contract, freelance, or temporary work is out of necessity to support basic family needs.

Here's a breakdown of their findings:

Primary Reason for Independent Work Proportion of Freelancers Who Agree
A necessity to support basic family need 25.7%
For the autonomy and flexibility it offers 24.9%
Enjoy the work 24.7%
Additional discretionary income 19.5%
Other 5.2%

Source: Pew Research Center, McKinsey

Conclusion

Self-employment has become indispensable to the global workforce - the growing number of freelancers is a testament to this.

And these figures are set to continue to rise over the coming years.

For more content on freelancing and employment, take a look at 7 Remote Work Trends and 57+ Freelance Statistics, Trends and Insights.