On April 14, 2026, an extended meeting of the Working group of the State Duma Committee on regional policy and local self-government on intersectoral cooperation between business and public authorities at the regional and municipal levels took place. Experts from the Center for Evidence-Based Expertise presented a summary of the top-level results of a comprehensive economic and legal study of the self-employment mode in Russia, conducted in 2025.
The data sources included official data from the Federal Tax Service, an all-Russian survey of the self-employed with a sample of at least 3000 respondents, and data from banking transactions for the self-employed segment of Moscow (Sberanalitika).
Lora Nakoryakova, Deputy Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Expertise, and Anton Beloglazov, Head of Evidence-Based Economics Department, spoke about modern portrait off self-employment in Russia using key socio-demographic and economic characteristics, and about contribution of self-employment to the Russian economy:
- During the discussion, it was noted that the self-employment segment continues to grow steadily: by 2025, approximately 15 million self-employed individuals have been registered. In this respect, experts focus on the group of active self-employed individuals (just over 60%), providing the main economic contribution, i.e., their share in SME employment increased from 17% in 2021 to 42% in 2025.
- Experts emphasize that self-employment is, first and foremost, an additional source of income and often irregular: 8 out of 10 self-employed have additional sources of income, more than a third (36%) have parallel employment under labor contract, while for 61% self-employment is irregular activity.
- In 2025, total income of the self-employed exceeded Rb 3 trillion, which is 38.6% higher than in the 2024. Thus, the previously made forecast of reaching Rb 4 trillion by 2028 has been currently confirmed. It is important to note that 40% accounts for individuals in the structure of incomes and 60% for legal entities, which indicates the significant role of the regime not only for business, but also for the population.
- Moreover, it was noted that the self-employed are integrated into key sectors of the economy and form sustainable inter-sectoral and inter-regional links. Using Moscow as an example, an analysis of such connections was presented both within the capital and beyond (using big data analysis of banking transactions). Thus, more than half of the demand for self-employed services comes from the information and communications sector within the city, while at the interregional level, the self-employed serve as a channel of interaction for a wider range of industries, including trade, construction, manufacturing, and transportation.
- The emerging economic activity is also accompanied by a social effect: the contribution of the self-employed to the reduction in unemployment is estimated at -4.3 p.p. This means that in the absence of this structure, the unemployment rate could be around 6.4% instead of the actual 2.1% (according to Rosstat data as of February 2026).
- The overall contribution of self-employment to GDP at 2024 yearend evidences 1.1% and remains at a comparable level in the forecast until 2028. Thus, self-employment is not only a form of employment, but also a factor of the economic growth and fiscal sustainability.
Ekaterina Papchenkova, Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Expertise, spoke about feasible approaches to the regulation of the self-employment mode taking into account the mood of the self-employed population:
- Despite the overall positive perception of the mode, the self-employed note a number of systemic limitations: while the key advantages include ease of registration (35%), a low tax rate (34%) and a zero complex reporting (29%), the main difficulties include aspects such as lack of pension savings (32%), sick leave and maternity benefits (27%), as well as paid leave (26%).
- Thus, the demand for the development of the social component is one of the most apparent: more than 45% of the self-employed are interested in access to social guarantees, while over 60% prioritize pension contributions and temporary disability payments. At the same time, a significant portion of the self-employed remains outside the social security system: 67% do not make voluntary pension contributions, and about 25% can be classified as a group with increased risks of social insecurity.
- The subject of distinguishing between self-employment and labor relations remains relevant: with a generally low level of risk (less than 2% according to the FTS), judicial practice shows that in 158 of 208 cases examined, the relations were reclassified as labor relations.
- International experience shows two key areas for regulatory development: inclusion of the self-employed in social and pension insurance systems, and creation of a category of "dependent self-employed" for whom separate guarantees and protection mechanisms are provided. Moreover, the payment of insurance premiums is generally mandatory abroad and is paid by the self-employed.
- Near completion of the experiment, three basic scenarios for the development of self-employment are being considered: maintaining current parameters, canceling self-employment or modifying it. However, if the modification scenario is chosen, changes may affect three key areas: 1) social and pension security (contribution amount and source), 2) fiscal conditions (tax rates and income limits), and 3) permitted activities (expansion or reduction of the list).