Earned income of self-employed workers in 2013: sharp decline in most sectors

At the end of 2013, 2.7 million people in France had a self-employed activity, excluding the agricultural sector. A quarter of them were auto-entrepreneurs. Excluding the latter, self-employed workers received an average of €3,190 per month, ranging from €980 in trade excluding shops to €8,130 for doctors and dentists. Auto-entrepreneurs drew €440 a month from their activity on average. A third of them combined this activity with salaried employment - including their wage, they received €2,090 in total. Within the same sector, women earned a third less than men. Part of this difference is explained by less work being carried out by women. Between 2012 and 2013, average earned income decreased by 4.6% for auto-entrepreneurs, 1.6% for conventional sole proprietors and 7.9% for majority shareholders of companies. For the latter, more than half of the drop is explained by a decrease in dividends. This decline affected all sectors except the paramedical professions. It was severe in business services or mixed services (legal professions, management consulting, architecture, engineering, design or IT).