One in seven is self-employed – including own-company staff
The FSO figure for 2025 also covers owners of a limited company. Social insurance and pension provision use different definitions – with concrete consequences for cover.
In 2025, 681,000 people in Switzerland were self-employed in their main occupation. That corresponds to 13.9 percent of employed persons, as the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) announced on 20 October 2026. The figure, however, covers two legally distinct groups: people who work on their own account, and employees in their own limited company (AG) or limited liability company (GmbH). Anyone who infers insurance cover from that share can therefore reach a wrong conclusion.
The new analysis describes a form of employment from a statistical perspective. For the social insurance system, what additionally matters is the legal and factual form in which someone works. This distinction affects contributions, pension provision and protection – and is therefore more than a question of the job title on a business card.
Employed in one's own business
Under the FSO definition, 6.8 percent of all employed persons worked on their own account. A further 7.2 percent were employees in their own business. The fact that the rounded sub-figures add up to 14.0 rather than 13.9 percent is not a contradiction: each share is rounded separately.
The federal SME Portal explicitly explains the difference for social insurance. Anyone who founds an AG or a GmbH and works for it is in principle regarded as employed. The person can be an entrepreneur and at the same time hold employee status. For a sole proprietorship, by contrast, the activity is assessed according to the criteria of self-employed gainful activity.
The statistics therefore do not claim that all the persons recorded are subject to the same contribution rules. They group different forms of entrepreneurial work together. That makes sense for describing the labour market, but calls for caution as soon as individual obligations are derived from the finding.
The compensation office assesses the activity
Whether someone is self-employed within the meaning of the AHV is decided by the competent compensation office in each individual case. The Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) names work in one's own name and on one's own account, as well as bearing one's own economic risk, as the central criteria.
The SME Portal's guide also points to independence in organisation and working methods. A self-chosen label alone therefore does not decide the classification. Anyone taking up an activity must clarify the actual circumstances and apply to the compensation office for recognition.
This also applies to several professional roles. According to the federal information, the same person can be regarded as employed for one activity and as self-employed for another. A side project does not automatically turn an existing employment relationship into a self-employed activity. Conversely, a salary from a part-time job does not replace the assessment of one's own business.
Pension provision does not automatically follow freedom
The SME Portal states that self-employed people are largely responsible for their own pension provision. For employees of their own limited company, by contrast, most social insurances are mandatory. Which rules apply in a concrete case therefore cannot be read off the general self-employment rate.
For planning a business, two separate questions are helpful: how is the activity classified under social insurance law? And which risks are actually covered as a result? The BSV provides overviews of mandatory and voluntary insurance for companies. A statistical classification replaces neither this assessment nor an insurance contract.
More work is not proof of higher income
In the FSO analysis, full-time self-employed people report a usual working week of 46.8 hours. For employees it gives 41.5 contractual hours. The comparison figures are therefore not entirely identical: usual working hours and contractual working hours answer different questions. The data show a time burden, but measure neither productivity nor available income.
Averages also say little about an individual business. An advisory professional, a farm and the owner of a GmbH have different workflows and risks. The figure «one in seven» therefore allows no conclusion of a start-up boom or of a general improvement in financial position.
The new statistics make visible how widespread entrepreneurial work is. For those affected, however, the concrete calculation begins with their own legal form, the recognition of their activity and the protection of their income. The difference between statistical self-employment and social insurance status in particular deserves more attention.
Sources
- FSO: Self-employed gainful activity 2025, press release of 20 October 2026
- BSV: Implementation of the AHV and assessment of self-employment
- SME Portal: Social insurance by legal form
- SME Portal: A guide to self-employment
- SME Portal: Self-employment alongside a part-time job
- BSV: Social insurance for SMEs and companies
