Portuguese people are divided in the choice of working as an employee or being self-employed, according to the Eurobarometer survey ‘Entrepreneurship in the EU and Beyond’.
Around half of the respondents in Portugal say they favour self-employment, which is considerably above the European Union average.
In Portugal, 49% say they would prefer to be self-employed rather than be employed by a company, a relatively high number compared with the 37% who expressed a preference for self-employment at the EU level.
Slightly fewer respondents (47%) say that they would prefer to be an employee which is somewhat lower than the 58% of people at EU level.
The Eurobarometer survey collected answers from 42,080 citizens from 40 countries (the EU 27 plus another 13), and 1,000 people in Portugal took part in the survey.
While a majority of people in Portugal who favour self-employment say they are motivated by personal independence, Portuguese citizens are also more inclined than Europeans in general to feel that they lack financial resources and also that the economic climate is not right for starting a business.
