Demand for freelance work is higher in large cities than in the countryside
In 2024, most people started their own freelance businesses in Berlin, followed by Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. When looking at start-up intensity – the number of freelance start-ups per 10,000 inhabitants of working age – Berlin is still in the lead, but it is followed by the city of Leipzig, the district of Munich and the cities of Cologne and Freiburg im Breisgau.
“Freelance start-ups often take place in large cities, as many companies and public administrations there require consulting and scientific services. At the same time, it has a positive effect that many of these cities have universities offering professional education in the liberal professions,” reports IfM researcher Peter Kranzusch.
Gender Gap is highest in Leipzig
Women are more likely to start a business in the liberal professions than men. A regional comparison of the start-up intensity of women and men shows that this applies to 361 of 400 districts. Nationwide, the start-up intensity for women is 20.8, compared with 16.6 for men. The largest gap in start-up intensity between women and men is observed in the city of Leipzig, followed by Berlin and the districts of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Lüneburg, and Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen.
All data is based on information provided by the tax office districts on new registrations of liberal professions. The data is converted by IfM Bonn to the regional subdivision of the districts.
