Eurostat: the self-employed are more than twice as likely as employees to work from home

Working from home in Europe is disproportionately a self-employed arrangement, according to Eurostat’s labour force survey data for 2025, updated on 30 October 2026. 18.9% of self-employed people in the EU usually worked from home in 2025, against 7.3% of employees. Among self-employed people without employees the figure was 22.7%. Spain follows the same pattern, at 16.5% of the self-employed against 6.5% of employees (Eurostat, lfsa_ehomp).

Why this matters

If you want to work from home most of the time, these figures suggest working for yourself is still the more reliable route than employment in much of Europe, especially as several large employers tighten office rules. They also show how many people are already doing it, which matters for anyone weighing up freelancing or registering as self-employed.

Context

The share of EU workers who work from home “sometimes” also rose, to 14.2% in 2025 from 13.7% in 2024. Usual home working by employees has stayed low even as occasional home working has grown, which fits the move towards hybrid arrangements set by employers.