In the July–September 2025 quarter, the informal employment rate decreased 0.8 percentage points (pp) year on year to stand at 26.2%, according to information from the latest Bulletin of Labour Informality, which is produced by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

In the same period, the number of informally employed persons stood at 2,458,353, a fall of 1.4% year on year.

The year-on-year decrease in informally employed persons was influenced by falls in men (-2.3%) and women (-0.4%). By age bracket, the decrease can mainly be attributed to the falls in the brackets 25–34 years (-7.4%) and 45–54 years (-5.5%).

By economic sector, the decrease was mainly due to the falls in commerce (-5.1%) and manufacturing (-4.8%).

By occupational group, the main influences on the decrease in informally employed persons were the falls in service and sales workers (-4.3%) and administrative and support workers (-24.8%).

By occupational category, the greatest influence on the decrease in informally employed persons was the fall in own-account workers (-5.1%). Following in influence were the falls in wage earners of the public sector (-8.1%), employers (-11.8%), and unpaid family workers (-8.4%). In contrast, increases in the informally employed were observed in the number of wage earners of the private sector (5.7%) and domestic workers (2.2%).

Own-account workers and wage earners of the private sector accounted for 86.6% of the total number of informally employed persons, and their informal employment rates were 64.6% and 15.6%, respectively.

The year-on-year decrease in informal own-account workers (-5.1%) was influenced by the falls in men (-6.2%) and women (-3.7%), while the falls in commerce (-8.5%) and manufacturing (-9.1%) were the most influential activities in the decrease in the informally employed.

When is someone an informally employed person?

Informally employed persons are dependent workers whose employment relationship does not provide access to social welfare benefits (healthcare and pension). The informally employed include those who work independently in a company, business, or activity that belongs to the informal sector. Unpaid family workers are also considered to be informally employed. 

See:

Labour informality bulletin no. 32: July–September 2025 (English translation)