Self-employment in Flanders has climbed to its highest level in at least a quarter of a century, underlining a steady shift in how people across the region are choosing to work.
New figures from Statistics Flanders show that 15% of people aged 20 to 64 were self-employed as their main occupation in 2025. That marks a one-percentage-point increase from the previous year and the highest share recorded in 25 years.
The data also highlights a persistent gender divide. While 18.6% of working men were self-employed, the figure for women stood at just 11%. Age plays a role as well: only 10.5% of workers aged 20 to 24 were self-employed, compared with 18% among those aged 55 to 64, suggesting that entrepreneurship becomes more common later in working life.
Flanders continues to outperform other Belgian regions by a notable margin. The self-employment rate remains well above that of Wallonia (11.9%) and Brussels (13.9%), and also exceeds the European Union average of 13.1%. Greece remains the EU’s leader in this category, with nearly a quarter of its workforce self-employed.
But the rise in self-employment comes with trade-offs. On average, self-employed workers in Flanders logged 45.7 hours per week in 2025—more than 10 hours longer than salaried employees, who worked an average of 35.4 hours.
Across the broader workforce, the average working week stood at 36.9 hours, a slight uptick from the historic low recorded in 2024. These figures reflect only primary jobs and exclude any secondary employment.
Disparities in working hours between men and women also remain pronounced. Men worked an average of 39.9 hours per week, compared with 33.6 hours for women. Part-time employment continues to be significantly more common among women, with nearly 40% working reduced hours, versus just 12% of men. Overall, one in four workers in Flanders held part-time positions last year.
The latest data paints a picture of a labour market in transition—one where independence is on the rise, but long hours and structural inequalities persist. Photo by Alesia Kazantceva, saltnstreets, Wikimedia commons.