Number of single-person businesses down

In 2023, there were 230,000 single-person businesses in Finland, which was 10,000 fewer than the previous year. These are the results of a Statistics Finland labour force study.

There were 89,000 employer business owners, around the same as in 2022. The Statistics Finland labour market survey found that business owners and the self-employed made up 12% of all people in work. The labour force study figures also include primary sector business owners.

“The number of employer business owners has been decreasing since 2014, although it has now stood still. The number of single-person businesses has varied annually between 220,000 and 245,000,” Senior Statistician Ulla Hannula of Statistics Finland says in a press release.

The share of employer entrepreneurs among all business owners rose last year by one percentage point to 28%, and the share of single-person businesses in turn dropped to 72%, from 2022.

The share of women among all business owners dropped by a percentage point to 33%. The share of women among single-person businesses was 38%, and among employer entrepreneurs, 21%.

In 2023, Finland had a total of 49,000 farmers and their family members self-employed in agriculture, a little less than the previous year. Women made up 26% of agricultural business owners, up from 23% the previous year. The share of agricultural business owners among all business owners in 2023 was 13%, the same as in 2022.

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