Over half of self-employed workers have been in business for five years or more, but nine in 10 are on lowest income bracket

TWO-THIRDS of self-employed workers have been in their current professional situation for at least three years, and just over half – 55.2% - have been trading for five years or more, according to a report by the Federation of Associations of Autonomous [self-employed] Workers (ATA).

A total of just under 3.2 million of Spain's workforce are self-employed, of whom over 1.97 million – nearly 62% - are sole traders, whilst the remaining 1.22 million are registered as either limited or public-limited companies.

The report shows that 86% of sole traders do not earn more than the bottom band for paying Social Security, or 'national insurance' – a total flat fee of €267.03 irrespective of earnings aimed at those with a gross monthly income of a maximum of €893 a month.

Only 0.8% of self-employed non-company workers earn more than three times the lowest-band maximum, or a gross monthly income exceeding €2,679.

One in five sole traders emply at least one other person, or 21.6% of the total, a growth of 0.7% of the total on 2015, with the overall figure of one-man bands becoming employers increasing by 4% in the last year.

Over the course of 2016, Spain's self-employed – sole traders and companies – created an net average of 193 jobs a day, or 45,011 throughout the year, in addition to the 25,479 who started working for sole traders or small companies on a self-employed basis themselves, giving a total of 70,490.

This does not take into account indirect employment created through the services provided by 'autonomous' workers and the money they spend on supplies or non-work-related expenses.

The number of women who are self-employed has gone up, now reaching just over a third of the total – of all Spain's 'autonomous' workers, just under 35% are female and 65% are male.

Women aged under 35 are entitled to a 30% discount on their monthly Social Security payments, as are men under 30.

But the majority of the self-employed do not qualify for this helpful benefit, since almost 46% of them are aged between 40 and 54.

The under-25s only represent 1.9% of self-employed workers in Spain.

Almost one in four 'autonomous' workers are in some kind of commercial profession – 23.8%, to be precise – whilst 11.9% are in agriculture, 10.6% in the building trade or similar activities, and 9.2% in catering.