Factofly's state of freelancing 2024
How is it going in the Danish freelance industry? What worries the general freelancer? What do they earn? And how many hours do they spend working as a freelancer or self-employed person?
We have taken the temperature of the Danish freelance scene, and make a selection of the most interesting insights.
What is the situation with Danish freelancers?
We have carried out a survey among Danish freelancers, and see e.g. that every second freelancer finds the majority of their clients through their network, and approx. every fifth freelancer has concerns about artificial intelligence, when it comes to their future as a freelancer.
Here we review the most prominent points from the survey, and present you with the key figures that apply to freelancing in Denmark in 2024.
(The survey was conducted by Factofly in 2024. N = 136)
Freedom first, but money must be in the coffers.
Why do you choose to stay? freelancer initially?
According to our survey, 62% of the surveyed respondents have chosen to become a freelancer due to freedom and flexibility, while second place comes close behind with 15% of the respondents who have chosen the freelancing route for a greater financial opportunity.
It's hardly new news, then freedom has long been one of the primary drivers of freelancing globally.
But freelancing is not a cakewalk, where the business can be managed for a few hours a day from a hammock in Bali.
Administration and economic uncertainty stifle job satisfaction
Life as your own boss does not come without frustrations, and the two absolute biggest sources come from "financial insecurity" (43%) and "administrative work" (38%) respectively.
In fact, more than every other – the 54% to be exact – indicates that they have concerns about finances in relation to their future as a freelancer.
However, this makes good sense at the same time, then life as a freelancer if nothing else can vary too many in relation to the turnover and the financial aspect.
Barely 1 in 5 freelancers feel lonely
A smaller, but not unimportant item when talking about freelance frustrations, is loneliness.
18% has ticked this box off, and represents a flip side of the free life that, in our view, doesn't get enough attention.
When you say goodbye to the 9-5 life, it is not only work on other people's terms that you check out, but also a social community that you subsequently have to reinvent on your own.
The positive thing is that the vast majority of freelancers either thrive in their own company, or have found a network of like-minded people, but you have to be very cynical not to take the number here seriously.
Hourly rate is still the most popular model
Getting paid on an hourly basis has long been the easiest way to settle with the customer, and this still applies. The entire 66% has an hourly price as the preferred model against the 32% which uses a project price. Value-based pricing, which belongs in the more experienced freelancer's toolbox, is only 1.9%.
The hourly rate is lower for women
One of the more interesting insights from our survey is that male freelancers are generally less educated than female freelancers, yet they seem to be paid better than women on average.
This is also consistent with a study from FreelancerMap in 2023.
52% of the men interviewed in our study have either a short higher education, vocational education, upper secondary education or primary school as their highest completed education.
In this education category, the female respondents in the survey are at 20%.
Despite the level of education lies the average hourly rate however, at DKK 630 for men and DKK 493 for women, which must be said to be a big difference.
More than half of the interviewed male freelancers or self-employed persons state that they have a level of experience as an expert, where only 38% of the interviewed female freelancers themselves assess that they are at an expert level.
It could therefore indicate that the hourly price is more determined by the level of experience rather than the length of education, or that this can simply be based on the connection between the belief in one's own abilities and pricing and sales skills.
(Before we take to the streets with hay thieves and torches, it should be noted that the data base we are working with here gives us a greater degree of direction, rather than a final conclusion. If we are to be able to talk about statistical significance, the number of respondents should also be an indication bigger.)
The best paying type of freelance work
What type of performance or service you can earn the most money as a freelancer?
According to our research, if you want one, you need to offer a comprehensive marketing service high hourly rate. Here, the average hourly price is DKK 981.
Strongly followed by freelancers with a comprehensive marketing service, we find content production and copywriting. Here is the average hourly price of DKK 770.
At the other end of the scale is Social Media Management, which according to the survey is the "worst" paid type of freelance work, with an average hourly price of DKK 350.
Generally speaking, however, the survey shows that most, specifically 49.2% of the respondents questioned, are satisfied or very satisfied with their current income level.
Work-life balance is important for freelancers
The biggest motivation for being a freelancer is generally known to be the possibility of more freedom and flexibility in life for things other than work, and being able to structure your own working hours.
This is once again confirmed through our investigation. 60% of the surveyed respondents answer that the most important success criterion for their freelance career is flexible working hours and work-life balance.
This is also reflected in the average number of hours the participating freelancers work on a weekly basis.
Here, 25% of the surveyed respondents work between 30-39 hours per week, 21% who work 20-29 hours per week, and as many as 39% who work less than 20 hours per week.
Only 11.7% of the respondents work more than 40 hours on average per week. This means that all 60% of the respondents in the survey actually work less than 30 hours per week.
It could therefore well indicate that the majority of the surveyed respondents benefit from the advantage of being able to screw up the number of working hours.
Since the majority sell their work on an hourly basis, there is of course a natural correlation between income level and number of hours.
Factofly's state of freelancing 2024
How is it going in the Danish freelance industry? What worries the general freelancer? What do they earn? And how many hours do they spend working as a freelancer or self-employed person?
We have taken the temperature of the Danish freelance scene, and make a selection of the most interesting insights.
What is the situation with Danish freelancers?
We have carried out a survey among Danish freelancers, and see e.g. that every second freelancer finds the majority of their clients through their network, and approx. every fifth freelancer has concerns about artificial intelligence, when it comes to their future as a freelancer.
Here we review the most prominent points from the survey, and present you with the key figures that apply to freelancing in Denmark in 2024.
(The survey was conducted by Factofly in 2024. N = 136)
Freedom first, but money must be in the coffers.
Why do you choose to stay? freelancer initially?
According to our survey, 62% of the surveyed respondents have chosen to become a freelancer due to freedom and flexibility, while second place comes close behind with 15% of the respondents who have chosen the freelancing route for a greater financial opportunity.
It's hardly new news, then freedom has long been one of the primary drivers of freelancing globally.
But freelancing is not a cakewalk, where the business can be managed for a few hours a day from a hammock in Bali.
Administration and economic uncertainty stifle job satisfaction
Life as your own boss does not come without frustrations, and the two absolute biggest sources come from "financial insecurity" (43%) and "administrative work" (38%) respectively.
In fact, more than every other – the 54% to be exact – indicates that they have concerns about finances in relation to their future as a freelancer.
However, this makes good sense at the same time, then life as a freelancer if nothing else can vary too many in relation to the turnover and the financial aspect.
Barely 1 in 5 freelancers feel lonely
A smaller, but not unimportant item when talking about freelance frustrations, is loneliness.
18% has ticked this box off, and represents a flip side of the free life that, in our view, doesn't get enough attention.
When you say goodbye to the 9-5 life, it is not only work on other people's terms that you check out, but also a social community that you subsequently have to reinvent on your own.
The positive thing is that the vast majority of freelancers either thrive in their own company, or have found a network of like-minded people, but you have to be very cynical not to take the number here seriously.
Hourly rate is still the most popular model
Getting paid on an hourly basis has long been the easiest way to settle with the customer, and this still applies. The entire 66% has an hourly price as the preferred model against the 32% which uses a project price. Value-based pricing, which belongs in the more experienced freelancer's toolbox, is only 1.9%.
The hourly rate is lower for women
One of the more interesting insights from our survey is that male freelancers are generally less educated than female freelancers, yet they seem to be paid better than women on average.
This is also consistent with a study from FreelancerMap in 2023.
52% of the men interviewed in our study have either a short higher education, vocational education, upper secondary education or primary school as their highest completed education.
In this education category, the female respondents in the survey are at 20%.
Despite the level of education lies the average hourly rate however, at DKK 630 for men and DKK 493 for women, which must be said to be a big difference.
More than half of the interviewed male freelancers or self-employed persons state that they have a level of experience as an expert, where only 38% of the interviewed female freelancers themselves assess that they are at an expert level.
It could therefore indicate that the hourly price is more determined by the level of experience rather than the length of education, or that this can simply be based on the connection between the belief in one's own abilities and pricing and sales skills.
(Before we take to the streets with hay thieves and torches, it should be noted that the data base we are working with here gives us a greater degree of direction, rather than a final conclusion. If we are to be able to talk about statistical significance, the number of respondents should also be an indication bigger.)
The best paying type of freelance work
What type of performance or service you can earn the most money as a freelancer?
According to our research, if you want one, you need to offer a comprehensive marketing service high hourly rate. Here, the average hourly price is DKK 981.
Strongly followed by freelancers with a comprehensive marketing service, we find content production and copywriting. Here is the average hourly price of DKK 770.
At the other end of the scale is Social Media Management, which according to the survey is the "worst" paid type of freelance work, with an average hourly price of DKK 350.
Generally speaking, however, the survey shows that most, specifically 49.2% of the respondents questioned, are satisfied or very satisfied with their current income level.
Work-life balance is important for freelancers
The biggest motivation for being a freelancer is generally known to be the possibility of more freedom and flexibility in life for things other than work, and being able to structure your own working hours.
This is once again confirmed through our investigation. 60% of the surveyed respondents answer that the most important success criterion for their freelance career is flexible working hours and work-life balance.
This is also reflected in the average number of hours the participating freelancers work on a weekly basis.
Here, 25% of the surveyed respondents work between 30-39 hours per week, 21% who work 20-29 hours per week, and as many as 39% who work less than 20 hours per week.
Only 11.7% of the respondents work more than 40 hours on average per week. This means that all 60% of the respondents in the survey actually work less than 30 hours per week.
It could therefore well indicate that the majority of the surveyed respondents benefit from the advantage of being able to screw up the number of working hours.
Since the majority sell their work on an hourly basis, there is of course a natural correlation between income level and number of hours.
