85% of the self-employed have suffered in the last year an increase in costs due to inflation and 68% have had to raise prices to face it; but despite this decision, 65% plan to increase their rates again in the coming months in the face of the persistent inflationary environment.
This is clear from the barometer presented this Monday by ATA, the most representative association of the group, which after conducting 1,178 surveys of its members has concluded that inflation and the increase in taxes and social contributions are presented as the main obstacles for self-employed workers. characteristic of the country and that eight out of ten self-employed workers are currently “the same or worse than a year ago”. In fact, only one in five self-employed workers, 20.8%, affirm that their business has grown in 2022.
“The general rise in prices, the escalation of the costs of raw materials, etc. are seriously putting the continuity of many self-employed workers at risk, seeing their expenses increase above their sales,” the association has pointed out.
Regarding the prospects for the coming months, the self-employed are not very optimistic: only one in five respondents believe that their business will grow in the coming months and the majority fear that inflation will continue to oppress their costs, hence the 65.5 % affirm that “if everything continues as before, they will be forced to raise prices”, while 17.1% hope they will not have to do so and 17.4% are doubtful about what they will do with prices at short term.
“The decrease in turnover for many self-employed workers and the increase in costs has caused expenses to rise above income and they open their business every day knowing that it will cost them money. Two out of three self-employed workers, specifically the “68.1% affirm that they have had to raise prices given the unsustainability of the situation. Faced with this, one in four self-employed workers, 27.6%, affirm that they have assumed the increase in expenses and have maintained prices,” he explains. the association chaired by Lorenzo Amor.
Asked about the problems they encounter in their day-to-day business, “inflation together with the increase in taxes and contributions have been the main slabs that have seriously put the continuity of many businesses at risk. Thus, they score a 3, 4 out of 4 to inflation and the consequent escalation of prices and with a 3.2 (between quite and a lot) to the rise in contributions and the payment of taxes.With a note of 3 or more they also affirm that it affects them in their business the cost of raw materials (3.1), the rise in fuel prices (3.1) and the rise in electricity prices (3)”, they explain.
According to the barometer, 53.4% ??of the self-employed in Spain have workers under their charge and most of them, 38.4%, state that they have been able to maintain their workforce without resorting to layoffs.
16.4% of the self-employed -around 540,000- state that they are in charge of workers who earn the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI), for which reason the increase approved since January 2023 also affects them; compared to 32.2% who affirm that their workers do not receive the SMI on their payroll.
As a forecast of the employment of their business for the coming months of 2023, one in three self-employed workers expects to be able to maintain their workforce, specifically in 33.3% of cases, and 4% even consider that they are going to hire new workers and increase your workforce. Only 10% of the self-employed affirm that they will have to reduce the workforce to continue things as they have been up to now.
Regarding the impact of the increase in rent and mortgages – due to the increase in interest rates – on the group, 42.8% of the self-employed surveyed state that they pay rent in their business, of which 70 % indicate that said rent has risen in recent months: 20% affirm that the increase has been less than 4%, 35.1% detect that it has been between 4 and 8%, and 16, 9% of the self-employed with rent affirm that the increase has been above 8%. Only 25% of the self-employed, one in four, affirm that their rent has not risen in the last year.
According to the survey, only 16.8% of the self-employed have a mortgage on their business. With the increase in interest rates, only 10.8% affirm that their quota has not increased, while for the rest the quota has risen. 26.7% estimate the increase at less than 300 euros per month; 22.6% place it between 300 and 600 euros; for 0.8% of the self-employed with a mortgage, the monthly increase has exceeded 1,000 euros; and for 1.3% said increase has been between 600 and 1,000 euros per month.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
