Page 71 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Abderrahmane Benouaret: Towards Regulating Freelance Work and the Informal
Economy in Algeria: Will the Self-Employed Contractor Law Suffice?

Table (03): Rates of the Informal Economy in Algeria (% of GDP) for the period
1993-2020.
Year 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
*
IEC 34.9 35 34.9 34.9 34.8 34.6 34.4 34.1 33.9 33.6
Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
*
IEC 32.9 32.4 31.5 31.3 31.3 31.4 31.7 31.6 31.9 31.8
Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
*
IEC 31.5 31.4 31.5 31.3 31.3 31.1 31.2 32.2
* = Informal economy.
Source: (Elgin, et al., 2021).

Self-employment rates in Algeria indicate that the percentage of individuals and units
working for themselves is high (see table 04). In the 1990s, this percentage ranged
between 38.5% and 40.14% of total employment, during a time when living
conditions in Algeria were difficult and there was limited employment in the
economic or public sectors. This situation led individuals to resort to self-
employment. However, between 2005 and 2019, the self-employment rate declined
due to improved living conditions and the financial prosperity Algeria experienced
during this period, thanks to rising oil prices. This allowed for the creation of jobs
across all economic and public sectors, reducing the self-employment rate to between
30.53% and 33.34% of total employment, showing a downward trend until 2019.

In recent years, starting in 2020, self-employment has experienced a new upward
trend. This time, it is due to the Algerian government’s initiatives to promote
entrepreneurship, especially individual entrepreneurship, which encouraged
individuals to establish small businesses or engage in individual economic activities
within Algeria’s formal employment framework.

Table (04): Self-employment rates in Algeria (% of total employment) for the
period 1993-2020.
Year 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

**
SEM 40.13 40.14 40.11 39.98 39.81 39.73 39.24 38.5 38.27 36.71
Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
**
SEM 35.08 34.21 33.34 32.87 32.66 32.59 32.86 32.9 32.97 31.99
Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
SEM 31.03 30.94 31.07 30.92 30.68 30.53 30.66 31.33
**
** = Self-employment.
Source: (World Bank, 2024b).

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