Number of gig economy workers in Belgium remains limited

Only a limited number of people work in the gig economy in Belgium, according to figures from statistical agency Statbel. Last year, only 1.1 per cent of 15- to 64-year-old Belgians worked through platforms such as Uber, Deliveroo, Airbnb or Vinted.

Until now, little has been known about the size of the gig economy in Belgium. A representative survey by Statbel now shows that around 84,000 people worked at least one hour via one or more platforms or apps in 2022.

Almost 85 per cent of them worked for only one platform. Most people worked through a platform to deliver food and other goods such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats, sold goods online via Tweedehands or Vinted, worked as a babysitter or provided IT services.

People do not tend to work intensively for these platforms, as more detailed figures from last month show: 39 per cent work between one and nine hours a month on platforms, and only 18.2 per cent work more than 20 hours a month. Around a quarter earned no income from platforms last month, and 45.2 per cent earned less than a quarter of their total income from platforms.

Highly educated people are over-represented among platform workers, and the number of men and women is fairly equal. Most platform workers are self-employed. Just over half of them are uninsured against accidents at work, while around 66 per cent are not insured against sickness and more than 70 per cent are not insured against unemployment. 

^{© BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK}