London has the highest self-employment rates in the UK, data reveals

There are approximately 4.3 million self-employed workers in the UK, contributing around £278 billion to the economy each year*. Post-pandemic, the sector suffered from rising costs and financial uncertainty but has since slowly recovered.

The experts at Dolan Accountancy analysed the latest ONS data** to reveal which UK regions have the highest number of self-employed workers.

According to the latest data, London dominates self-employment accounting for 16% of the UK’s self-employed workforce. There were over 719,000 self-employed workers recorded in 2023. This is up 5% from the year before.

The South West is the next highest region for self-employed, accounting for 14% of the UK self-employed population, this is followed by South East (12%) and East of England (12%).

Breaking this down by borough, the data revealed Kensington and Chelsea has the highest proportion of self-employed workers (23%) followed by Haringey (22%) and Camden.

Number of self-employed by London borough 

Source: Dolan Accountancy

Zeeshan Anwar, Head of Compliance at Dolan Accountancy, says: 

“London is a popular location for high-skilled businesses because of the access to knowledge and high-skilled workers. Self-employed workers are a significant part of our economy but have experienced ongoing challenging financial conditions. With persistent low incomes, and rising costs, these pressures are affecting their wellbeing and they need to continue to be supported. The new Labour government plan to strengthen rights and protections for self-employed workers, including the right to a written contract, action to tackle late payments across London.”