53 Statistics on Freelance in France to Know in 2024

The status of freelance is evolving from year to year and more and more French people are starting or wishing to start their own business. A phenomenon that affects all countries and is mainly due to the digitalization of work. For many, freelancing will replace wage employment in the coming decades. 📈

Everyone knows that there will be more and more independents in the years to come. The problem is that it is difficult to know how many self-employed people there are, what their incomes are, what their education levels are and so on.

If you are interested in the world of freelancing, we will present you several statistics in this article. 📊

The different statistics on freelancing

In the past, the term self-employed was mainly used for traders and craftsmen. Nowadays, thanks to the emergence of the Internet, there are a multitude of jobs that can be done as a freelancer, from a computer. This digitalization of work is reflected in the soaring number of freelancers in France.

• Between 2009 and 2020, the number of freelancers in France increased by 92%.
• The number of freelancers is between 1,000,000 and 1,100,000 people
• By 2030, the country is expected to have 1,500,000 self-employed workers

Who are these workers?

Thanks to a study conducted for Malt, the leading freelancing platform we can know the average age of freelancers in France. 🎂

👉 The average freelancer is 37 years old.

We can also see big differences by age group among the self-employed. Among them:

• 6% of freelancers are in the 21-24 age group
• 60% of freelancers are in the 25-39 age group
• 33% of freelancers are in the 40-59 age group
• 1% of freelancersare over 60 years old
  

Be careful not to confuse age with experience. While the vast majority of freelancers are between the ages of 24 and 39, not all have been freelancing for 20 years. Thanks to another study conducted by the 404Works platform, we can get a clearer picture of the freelancer experience.

Among a proportion of French freelancers registered on 404works :

• 19% have just started or have less than one year of experience.
• 27% have between 1 and 3 years of experience.
• 71% have less than 5 years of experience.

Contrary to popular belief, it is clear that many freelancers do not have a lot of experience. While some thought that most freelancers had at least 5 years of experience, this category doesn’t even make up a third of the self-employed. 💪

Now you know how old most freelancers are. But are they men, women? Do they live in the country or in the city?

According to Freelance.com, 2 out of 3 freelancers are men worldwide. At the level of the active population, 12% of women are freelancers against 21% for men.

Share of women freelancers in the working population in Europe(Insee) :

But in France, the situation is much more nuanced, because according to Malt, 45% of freelancers are women. Depending on the country, the share of men and women who work as freelancers can differ greatly. In theEuropean Union, 35% of freelancers are women. 👩‍💼

Now let’s move on to where freelancers work. If many imagine that all freelancers work from another country, the reality is different according to a study by Malt.

Where do French freelancers work from?

• 59% of the self-employed work from home
• 23% work in clients’ premises
• 13% work from a coworking space, library or other

Globally, freelance.com notes that 86% of freelancers work from home.

More surprisingly, the Malt study reveals that 55% of freelancers work from Paris or the Paris region. Only a very small part of the freelancers are digital nomads or expatriates. ✈️

What is the legal status of freelancers?

In France, there is the status of micro-enterprise, a simplified system that allows you to easily start your own business. In this way, it is possible to invoice and sell its services, without having to create a real company. The micro-entrepreneur will only have to pay social security contributions on his turnover as well as a professional property tax every year.

Thus, most freelancers opt for this status. But there are also others such as the EURL, the EI or the EIRL. According to a study conducted by the 404Works platform, here are the different statuses of freelancers in France:

• 76% work as a micro-enterprise
• 10% in Sole Propri etorship(SP)
• 8% in a company(EURL, SASU, etc.)
• 6% as a freelancer

What jobs do freelancers do?

While it is possible todo a multitude of freelance jobs, some come back more than others. We can now know which jobs are the most practiced, especially via freelancing platforms. Once again, thanks to the Malt platform, we know the different categories of freelancers.

According to this study, freelancers work in :

• 29% in tech, with the main job being web developer
• 29% in the category “ Art “with the main professions being designers, photographers and graphic artists
• 23% in communication, with the main professions being community manager, SEO consultant, web marketer, etc.
• 7% as project managers
• 7% in customer support functions
• 5% as a sales person

Thanks to Statista, we can have other interesting statistics about the jobs done by French freelancers.

In 2019, here are the top occupations for freelancers according to Statista:

• Web Developer 🌐
• Graphic Designer 🎨
• Editor and Translator ✍️
• Project Manager / Online Coach 💻

What is also interesting to know is the level of education of the self-employed. Unlike salaried employees, very few clients look at a freelancer’s degree. And that’s the main advantage of freelancing, which allows you to get started without having a big academic background.

However, we note that in France, most freelancers are graduates. Among the independents present on the Malt platform:

• 77% have the equivalent of aBachelor’s degree
• 54% have a level of study equivalent to Bac + 5(Master)

Why do freelancers start up?

We can clearly see that more and more French people want to start a freelance business, but it is sometimes difficult to understand why. Again, thanks to the various freelancing platforms, we can know what motivates freelancers.

👉 90% of self-employed people are self-employed by choice.

👉 96% of freelancers working in tech jobs are doing so by choice .

Among the rest who practice under this status by default, the main reason is the difficulty to find a salaried job.

We often hear that you can go from employee to independent, but not from independent to employee. And this quote clearly translates into reality:

👉 84% of current freelancers do not want to go back to being employees.

In summary, the vast majority of freelancers have chosen this status and do not wish to return to salaried employment. This is mainly due to the increased freedom to choose one’s schedule. But we will see other statistics that explain why the French decide to start their own business.

Again thanks to a survey conducted by the Malt platform, here are the top motivations for freelancers:

• 81% want to have more autonomy and be able to choose when they work
• 76% do it for their own career
• 73% want to be able to work from wherever they want

The disadvantages of freelance status, according to freelancers

Like all other statuses, the freelance position has advantages and disadvantages. You’ve seen that freelancing allows you to change your life, potentially have more time working from home, etc. But freelancing also has its drawbacks.

According to Statista, the main disadvantage employees see in being a freelancer is the need to multitask. Indeed, a freelancer has to carry out the missions that are entrusted to him, but also manage his accounting, create a website, be good in communication, etc.

For many, the multitude of tasks would be an additional source of stress. 🤯

For the 54% of employees who are thinking of becoming a freelancer The second disadvantage is the lack of social security coverage. Indeed, when you are an employee, you are generally entitled to a complementary health insurance paid by your employer. This way, your care will be fully reimbursed.

As far as the self-employed are concerned, this is not the case. You will still have some of your care reimbursed by social security, but to have full reimbursement, you will need to have your own complementary health insurance.

While this is a concern for many people, it is really just a matter of paying for occupational health insurance. You can find them for a very good price with good guarantees, between 20 and 30€ per month.

Finally, 79% of people who want to start their own business find that the instability of income of the freelance status is a disadvantage. While some freelancers see differences in income each month, others are very successful in having a stable income over the long term. 💰

How much does a freelancer earn?

As you can see, a lot of freelancers started out to earn more than a salaried position. So let’s see how much self-employed people earn on average.

According to Statista, the average income of freelancers is 470€ per month. 😱

⚠️ Please note that if this figure is so low, it is simply because a good part of the freelancers have a salaried activity on the side. Indeed, many people are micro-entrepreneurs in order to generate additional income.

This average monthly income in no way reflects freelancers who carry out their main activity independently. Knowing that not all auto-entrepreneurs practicing in France work full time, it is normal that this figure is so low.

If you’re interested in the world of freelancing, you may know that freelancers use the so-called Average Daily Rate(ADR) to bill. This rate represents a price for a day worked and is used toestablish the price of a service. That’s why you can see freelancers charging 300€, 400€ per day, for example.

Thanks to the statistics of the Malt platform, we can determine the Average Daily Rate of French freelancers. The ADR will obviously vary depending on the industry, experience and more. 📈

Among all the freelancers registered on the site, we can estimate the average daily rate at 478€.

• In the tech sector(developer, data scientist), the average daily wage is 492€/day
• For designers/graphic artists, the average daily rate is 394€/day
• In the communication sector(SEO consultant, community manager, web marketer, etc.), the average daily rate is 388€/day
• For Project Managers, the average daily rate is 388€/day
• For the commercial professions, the average daily rate is 678€/day
• For customer support jobs, the average daily rate is €486/day

The problem is that we don’t know how many days these freelancers will work and therefore, it is difficult to establish the average income of freelancers. Thanks to several surveys, we can nevertheless estimate the average turnover of some freelance jobs .

• A freelance web writer earns an average of 2075€ per month
• A freelance graphic designer earns on average 2000€ per month
• A freelance web developer earns on average 2500€ per month
• A freelance SEO consultant earns on average 3000€ per month

Again, these numbers should be taken with caution. Regardless of the profession, there can be large differences in income based on experience, skills or simply the number of assignments completed. 👩‍💻

There you have it, you now know a lot of statistics that will allow you to see more clearly theworld of freelancing. If you want to start your own business, we have many articles related to freelancing on our blog. You will find many tips on how to find clients or develop new skills.

If you want to get started as soon as possible, we also present you a comparison of the best freelance trainings . These courses will guide you from A to Z to launch your business, set your prices, find customers and keep them for the long term. 🤝🏽