IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) has celebrated new figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that the self-employed population has undergone four consecutive quarters of growth.

This is the first time that the self-employed population has grown year-on-year in four successive quarters since the onset of the pandemic.

There are 64,000 more self-employed than this time last year. In total, there are now 4.3 million self-employed people operating in the UK.

Andy Chamberlain, Director of Policy at IPSE, said:

“Today’s figures mark a return to year-on-year self-employment growth for a fourth consecutive quarter. This is good news for businesses looking to flexibly recruit talent at a time when economic conditions might make a permanent hire less feasible.

“While self-employment is growing again, so too is unemployment. Government would be remiss not to harness the potential our growing self-employed sector offers to get more people working and earning again, particularly if regular employment is failing to meet their needs. The self-employed population remains 700,000 below pre-pandemic levels, which shows the scale of opportunity for government to get people back into work.

“We know that people choose self-employment for overwhelmingly positive reasons, whether it’s to follow a passion or strike a better work-life balance; that more and more people are choosing to work in this way is something to applaud. But it also highlights the need to urgently tackle the biggest threats to self-employed businesses, such as a punitive tax system, late paying clients, and the soaring cost of living.”