Labor informality in Chile increased to 27.3% of the population


The informality rate in Chile reached 27.3% during the first quarter of the year, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This figure represents an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

Compared to the previous period, the informal employed population -that is, those who work dependently but without access to social security- had an increase of 10.3 percent. In the moving quarter from January to March, workers in this segment totaled 2.3 million, which implied an increase of 224,353 more people than in the same period of 2021.

Analyzed by gender, women slightly surpassed men with an increase of 10.4% compared to the previous quarter, while men increased to 10.3 percent. By age, the group between 45 and 54 years old increased by 16.9%, while those between 25 and 34 years old increased by 6.9 percent.

The highest informal employment rates for the quarter were evidenced in the groups 65 years and over (50.0%) and 15-24 years (36.3 percent).

By occupational category, according to INE data, the greatest increase was registered in self-employed workers with 11.4% and private wage earners with 10.3%, together both represented 85.5% of the total informal employed population, with 1,235,977 and 816, 256 people, respectively.

The highest rates of informal employment were recorded in self-employed workers (69.4%) and domestic service personnel (51.3 percent).

While by economic sector, the increase in informal employed persons was especially affected by those who work in commerce (14.9%) and in transport and storage (28.4 percent). By occupational group, the variation was driven by service and commercial workers (20.3%) and artisans and trades workers (7.1 percent).

According to sex, the rise in men was affected by artisans and craft workers (9.4%) and in women by service and commercial workers (23.2%), the highest rate of informal employment was observed in farmers, agricultural workers and fishermen (54.3%) and artisans and craft workers (44.7 percent).

In twelve months, informal own-account workers expanded 11.4%, influenced by both men (13.5%) and women (8.5%). By sector of activity, the expansion was led by trade (18.1%).



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