Ever wondered how many freelancers are in the world? What they do or from which countries are they from? We did, and created this cool set of visualization in Tableau. And since we are not greedy and always try to give the most to our clients, we decided to share it with them and with our readers (you) via this blog post.
Note: The data from these visualizations is based on publicly available data from World Bank and freelancing sites. When analyzing it please keep in mind that the data includes only digital freelancers who work via online marketplaces. Offline or independent freelancers are not included in this analysis.
P.S. For a better experience it is recommended to view the visualization in full screen.
In the first map below, we can see the total number of registered and active freelancers classified by country, along the percentage of active freelancers from the total of registered freelancers.
As you can see, United States has the highest number of freelancers – 558K, of which 13.90% or 77K have been active in the past 3 months. It is followed by India with 145K freelancers (of which 14% were active in the past 3 months) and Philippines with 162K freelancers.
| Rank | Country | Freelancers | Active Freelancers | % Active Freelancers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 558,965 | 77,677 | 13.90% |
| 2 | India | 245,342 | 36,733 | 14.97% |
| 3 | Philippines | 162,233 | 25,750 | 15.87% |
| 4 | Pakistan | 62,442 | 11,651 | 18.66% |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 55,449 | 8,761 | 15.80% |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 53,889 | 6,202 | 11.51% |
| 7 | Ukraine | 53,529 | 13,798 | 25.78% |
| 8 | Russian Federation | 44,534 | 8,850 | 19.87% |
| 9 | Canada | 41,170 | 4,778 | 11.61% |
| 10 | Egypt, Arab Rep. | 33,610 | 5,490 | 16.33% |
| 11 | Serbia | 24,605 | 5,534 | 22.49% |
| 12 | Brazil | 21,028 | 2,842 | 13.52% |
| 13 | Australia | 21,018 | 1,874 | 8.92% |
| 14 | Indonesia | 19,032 | 1,809 | 9.51% |
| 15 | Kenya | 18,042 | 2,540 | 14.08% |
| 16 | Romania | 16,731 | 2,792 | 16.69% |
| 17 | Italy | 14,027 | 2,152 | 15.34% |
| 18 | Malaysia | 13,335 | 776 | 5.82% |
| 19 | Germany | 13,018 | 2,130 | 16.36% |
| 20 | South Africa | 12,354 | 1,442 | 11.67% |
| 21 | France | 12,333 | 1,719 | 13.94% |
| 22 | Sri Lanka | 12,176 | 909 | 7.47% |
| 23 | Mexico | 11,413 | 1,787 | 15.66% |
| 24 | Spain | 11,071 | 1,908 | 17.23% |
| 25 | Argentina | 10,612 | 1,972 | 18.58% |
| 26 | Venezuela, RB | 10,044 | 2,140 | 21.31% |
| 27 | United Arab Emirates | 9,592 | 751 | 7.83% |
| 28 | Poland | 8,864 | 1,740 | 19.63% |
| 29 | Turkey | 8,790 | 1,949 | 22.17% |
| 30 | China | 8,699 | 904 | 10.39% |
| 31 | Nigeria | 7,897 | 1,317 | 16.68% |
| 32 | Colombia | 7,752 | 1,348 | 17.39% |
| 33 | Morocco | 7,553 | 735 | 9.73% |
| 34 | Vietnam | 7,463 | 1,039 | 13.92% |
| 35 | Bulgaria | 7,303 | 1,384 | 18.95% |
| 36 | Netherlands | 7,226 | 976 | 13.51% |
| 37 | Portugal | 7,198 | 1,036 | 14.39% |
| 38 | Macedonia, FYR | 7,155 | 1,583 | 22.12% |
| 39 | Jamaica | 7,057 | 660 | 9.35% |
| 40 | Armenia | 6,325 | 1,698 | 26.85% |
| 41 | Belarus | 6,187 | 1,280 | 20.69% |
| 42 | Greece | 5,970 | 926 | 15.51% |
| 43 | Tunisia | 5,884 | 449 | 7.63% |
| 44 | Singapore | 5,747 | 455 | 7.92% |
| 45 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5,414 | 927 | 17.12% |
| 46 | Croatia | 5,281 | 739 | 13.99% |
| 47 | Nepal | 5,094 | 530 | 10.40% |
| 48 | Ireland | 4,588 | 517 | 11.27% |
| 49 | New Zealand | 4,412 | 464 | 10.52% |
| 50 | Saudi Arabia | 4,247 | 330 | 7.77% |
| 51 | Hungary | 4,214 | 713 | 16.92% |
| 52 | Thailand | 3,899 | 632 | 16.21% |
| 53 | Albania | 3,769 | 665 | 17.64% |
| 54 | Algeria | 3,629 | 328 | 9.04% |
| 55 | Israel | 3,577 | 478 | 13.36% |
| 56 | Sweden | 3,550 | 478 | 13.46% |
| 57 | Belgium | 3,372 | 346 | 10.26% |
| 58 | Czech Republic | 2,954 | 464 | 15.71% |
| 59 | Lithuania | 2,852 | 464 | 16.27% |
| 60 | Japan | 2,800 | 542 | 19.36% |
| 61 | Georgia | 2,684 | 503 | 18.74% |
| 62 | Switzerland | 2,585 | 312 | 12.07% |
| 63 | Dominican Republic | 2,579 | 378 | 14.66% |
| 64 | Denmark | 2,504 | 279 | 11.14% |
| 65 | Moldova | 2,308 | 555 | 24.05% |
| 66 | Peru | 2,263 | 297 | 13.12% |
| 67 | Chile | 2,176 | 331 | 15.21% |
| 68 | Azerbaijan | 2,156 | 327 | 15.17% |
| 69 | Costa Rica | 2,086 | 269 | 12.90% |
| 70 | Austria | 2,067 | 314 | 15.19% |
| 71 | Kazakhstan | 1,965 | 361 | 18.37% |
| 72 | Norway | 1,918 | 315 | 16.42% |
| 73 | Jordan | 1,908 | 209 | 10.95% |
| 74 | Finland | 1,760 | 271 | 15.40% |
| 75 | Slovenia | 1,720 | 255 | 14.83% |
| 76 | Slovak Republic | 1,644 | 267 | 16.24% |
| 77 | Ghana | 1,625 | 136 | 8.37% |
| 78 | Uruguay | 1,598 | 292 | 18.27% |
| 79 | Korea, Rep. | 1,569 | 306 | 19.50% |
| 80 | Qatar | 1,565 | 100 | 6.39% |
| 81 | Latvia | 1,500 | 283 | 18.87% |
| 82 | Estonia | 1,496 | 275 | 18.38% |
| 83 | Lebanon | 1,473 | 160 | 10.86% |
| 84 | El Salvador | 1,452 | 245 | 16.87% |
| 85 | Ecuador | 1,450 | 215 | 14.83% |
| 86 | Taiwan | 1,298 | 215 | 16.56% |
| 87 | Nicaragua | 1,292 | 296 | 22.91% |
| 88 | Uganda | 1,175 | 83 | 7.06% |
| 89 | Guatemala | 1,144 | 166 | 14.51% |
| 90 | Bolivia | 1,048 | 209 | 19.94% |
| 91 | Panama | 1,019 | 146 | 14.33% |
| 92 | Montenegro | 949 | 179 | 18.86% |
| 93 | Trinidad and Tobago | 942 | 97 | 10.30% |
| 94 | Madagascar | 911 | 197 | 21.62% |
| 95 | Uzbekistan | 889 | 151 | 16.99% |
| 96 | Cyprus | 849 | 115 | 13.55% |
| 97 | Honduras | 836 | 144 | 17.22% |
| 98 | Cameroon | 770 | 108 | 14.03% |
| 99 | Malta | 755 | 103 | 13.64% |
| 100 | Kuwait | 704 | 63 | 8.95% |
| 101 | Cambodia | 694 | 112 | 16.14% |
| 102 | Mauritius | 676 | 54 | 7.99% |
| 103 | Oman | 576 | 50 | 8.68% |
| 104 | Ethiopia | 569 | 45 | 7.91% |
| 105 | Tanzania | 550 | 56 | 10.18% |
| 106 | Bahrain | 547 | 51 | 9.32% |
| 107 | Kyrgyz Republic | 499 | 127 | 25.45% |
| 108 | Barbados | 420 | 39 | 9.29% |
| 109 | Belize | 400 | 71 | 17.75% |
| 110 | Guyana | 327 | 35 | 10.70% |
| 111 | Iceland | 312 | 28 | 8.97% |
| 112 | Zambia | 310 | 37 | 11.94% |
| 113 | Myanmar | 283 | 59 | 20.85% |
| 114 | Luxembourg | 274 | 47 | 17.15% |
| 115 | Paraguay | 268 | 43 | 16.04% |
| 116 | Mongolia | 249 | 27 | 10.84% |
| 117 | Yemen, Rep. | 244 | 16 | 6.56% |
| 118 | Botswana | 232 | 24 | 10.34% |
| 119 | Bahamas, The | 218 | 12 | 5.50% |
| 120 | Haiti | 198 | 39 | 19.70% |
| 121 | Namibia | 197 | 21 | 10.66% |
| 122 | Benin | 183 | 42 | 22.95% |
| 123 | Rwanda | 169 | 12 | 7.10% |
| 124 | Suriname | 137 | 30 | 21.90% |
| 125 | Bhutan | 135 | 5 | 3.70% |
| 126 | Brunei Darussalam | 134 | 6 | 4.48% |
| 127 | Maldives | 132 | 6 | 4.55% |
| 128 | Somalia | 123 | 42 | 34.15% |
| 129 | Samoa | 122 | 6 | 4.92% |
| 130 | Mozambique | 119 | 19 | 15.97% |
| 131 | Senegal | 110 | 26 | 23.64% |
| 132 | Andorra | 108 | 10 | 9.26% |
| 133 | Grenada | 107 | 7 | 6.54% |
| 134 | Antigua and Barbuda | 105 | 9 | 8.57% |
| 135 | Dominica | 102 | 5 | 4.90% |
| 136 | Malawi | 100 | 15 | 15.00% |
| 137 | Tajikistan | 98 | 21 | 21.43% |
| 138 | Fiji | 92 | 6 | 6.52% |
| 139 | Turkmenistan | 72 | 25 | 34.72% |
| 140 | Guinea | 70 | 8 | 11.43% |
| 141 | Angola | 65 | 6 | 9.23% |
| 142 | Lao PDR | 51 | 16 | 31.37% |
| 143 | Papua New Guinea | 50 | 5 | 10.00% |
| 144 | Monaco | 45 | 3 | 6.67% |
| 145 | Lesotho | 42 | 9 | 21.43% |
| 146 | Togo | 35 | 6 | 17.14% |
| 147 | Mauritania | 33 | 3 | 9.09% |
| 148 | Swaziland | 33 | 5 | 15.15% |
| 149 | Seychelles | 29 | 3 | 10.34% |
| 150 | Cabo Verde | 27 | 10 | 37.04% |
| 151 | Burkina Faso | 26 | 3 | 11.54% |
| 152 | Gambia, The | 26 | 2 | 7.69% |
| 153 | Congo, Rep. | 25 | 6 | 24.00% |
| 154 | Burundi | 18 | 3 | 16.67% |
| 155 | Congo, Dem. Rep. | 18 | 5 | 27.78% |
| 156 | Mali | 18 | 6 | 33.33% |
| 157 | Niger | 14 | 3 | 21.43% |
| 158 | Vanuatu | 14 | 1 | 7.14% |
| 159 | Sierra Leone | 13 | 2 | 15.38% |
| 160 | Liechtenstein | 12 | 3 | 25.00% |
| 161 | Eritrea | 11 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 162 | Timor-Leste | 10 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 163 | Gabon | 10 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 164 | Micronesia, Fed. Sts. | 9 | 1 | 11.11% |
| 165 | Palau | 9 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 166 | San Marino | 9 | 2 | 22.22% |
| 167 | Comoros | 7 | 1 | 14.29% |
| 168 | Tonga | 6 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 169 | Djibouti | 5 | 1 | 20.00% |
| 170 | Equatorial Guinea | 5 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 171 | Central African Republic | 4 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 172 | Guinea-Bissau | 4 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 173 | Marshall Islands | 4 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 174 | Chad | 3 | 2 | 66.67% |
| 175 | Kiribati | 2 | 1 | 50.00% |
In terms of how popular is internet freelancing per 1000 people, we can see that Freelancing as a career is the most spread in Serbia where there are 3.52 freelancers per 1000 people living there.
Serbia is followed by Macedonia with 3.41 freelancers per 1000 people, Jamaica with 2.43 people and Armenia with 2.18 people out of 1000 being freelancers.
United States ranks 5th with 1.72 freelancers per 1000 people while Montenegro and “Bosnia and Herzegovina” rank 6th and 7th with 1.58 and 1.55 freelancers per 1000 people.
From this map we can also see that digital freelancing is most spread in the Balkan peninsula (Europe), Eastern Europe and among English speaking countries like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Ireland.
Apart from these countries, freelancing is also widely spread (compared to country’s population) in Portugal, Iceland, Philippines, Armenia and Georgia (country).
Countries like India, Russia, Pakistan and Bangladesh although have a high number of freelancers, when compared against their population, the number of freelancers per 1000 people is relatively low so we may consider that freelancing is not that popular there.
In terms of most popular categories among freelancers, we can see that “Web, Mobile and Software development”, “Design & creative”, “Writing” and “Admin Support” are the most popular categories in which freelancers choose to specialize and work.
Analyzing the specific subcategories below, we can see that United States has the most freelancers in almost all subcategories with some exceptions like “Web & Mobile Design”, “Other – Software Development”, “Desktop Software Development” “Ecommerce Development”, “Product Management” and “Q&A Testing” where India has more freelancers.
In some categories like “Customer Services” and “Technical Support” United States is on par with Philippines.
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I am from Serbia (age 24) and I have many friends who work online (about 8), mainly doing freelancing. Personally I choose to be a freelancer because of the low salary offered by Serbian companies to young employees, as they always say that you do not have experience, etc.
Me too, ofc cuz we are like India, stupit jobs pay like 250$ a month in Serbia so no brainer
I own a web development company in San Francisco, California and I can say that freelancing is a big help for us as if I would hire local developers from San Francisco, our prices would not be competitive with those of similar companies from other states where labor cost is cheaper so currently 9 of 11 web developers that we have in our team are freelancers, mostly from United States (southeast) and Brazil.
Indeed, if it wasn’t for the freelancing marketplace, the local US companies from the IT sector would have lost to international competitors long time ago.
Sure that freelancing is a big help for big companies because they are cheaper, reduce cost and increase profits to companies.
I work from Kenya way to go guys we are at number 15. (Serikali Saidia) government should increase ICT infrastructure penetration in Rural Areas the number will sure increase>>>>>>
Outsourcing your software development has emerged as a global trend in today’s digital world … so how can you be sure you’ve found a partner you can trust in?
Serbia, with its progressive nature and rich talent pool of highly educated individuals; together with a culture embedded in innovation, matched with the desire to deliver excellent service across a wide range of industries is fast flourishing as one of the prime European destinations for outsourcing.
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It’s good to be a freelancer in Serbia nowadays: High education, super fun and vibrant life, 1.5hr away from any major city in Europe, and easy way to save extra and invest
Hello, your website is very helpful. I saw your full blog and realize that its very essential blog for everyone. Everyone should follow this.
Hi! I am unsure, as I noticed after some research that the number of freelancers in the US is around 55 million in 2018. So is there an error in this data? As it says its 558K, which seems too low of a number.
In this analysis, we included only digital freelancers who work via online marketplaces (there is a note at the beginning of the article). The vast majority of those 55 million which are included in the statistics published by those sources do not work via online marketplaces or work offline jobs which allows them to be labeled as freelancers (pilots, people from creative occupations such as interpreters, writers, various artists, people working in some technical or scientific occupations such as engineers, etc).
Although I do not know how they reached the 55 million number, I suspect that they included people working in the above professions + all the other people who are hired on a temporary basis eg: a company needs to shoot a video with a drone so they hire a drone pilot on a freelance basis. And most likely they do this not via an online marketplace.
Hi,
This is a very interesting analysis of the freelancer landscape. I noticed that the number of freelancers with specific skills by subcategory exceeds the total number of freelancers, meaning they have selected multiple subcategories on their profiles.
Would you mind commenting on how many skills (subcategories) do freelancers working in the technology domain (such as software development, IT, etc.) list on their profiles, on an average?
Thank you!
I did a quick calculation and for subcategories belonging to “Web, Mobile & Software Development” and “IT & Networking” categories, there are about 2.1 more freelancers than in the categories, meaning that freelancers from these categories list about 2.1 subcategories on their profiles (on average).