Upwork is one of the leading global freelance platforms.
This company generated $502 million in annual gross services volume in 2021. (Source: Upwork).
Additionally, there are over 700,000 active clients on Upwork, and in 2021 Upwork generated over $3 billion in gross services volume.
This platform has proved to be a revenue and talent pool force.
In this article, SEO Consultant Luca Tagliaferro will discuss the different Upwork statistics you need to know if you are looking to hire freelancers or enter into the gig economy.
So, let’s get right to it.
Where is Upwork revenue coming from?
The company generates its revenue from two types of customers: talents and clients.
The following tables show talent revenue growth in the last three years from several geographical locations:
Geographical Area | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 74,890K | 60,861K | 50,154k |
| India | 42,277K | 33,109K | 27,369K |
| Philippines | 32,918K | 22,924K | 19,660K |
| Rest of the World | 146,894K | 109,805K | 90,259K |
| TOTAL TALENTS | $269,979K | $226,699K | $187,442K |
| TALENTS GROWTH | 16.03% | 17.31% | 18.22% |
Source: Upwork Investor Relations
The following table shows the revenue in the same geographical locations coming from clients:
Geographical Area | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 153,003K | 107,359K | 87,241K |
| Rest of the World | 52,815K | 39,570K | 25,879K |
| TOTAL CLIENTS | $205,818K | $146,929K | $113,120K |
| TOTAL CLIENTS & TALENT | $502,797K | $373,628K | $300,562K |
| TOTAL GROWTH | 25.69% | 19.55% | 28.03% |
Source: Upwork Press Release
This data shows clearly that 2/3 of the client’s revenue comes from the United States and the resting 1/3 from the rest of the world.
The data is also interesting because it shows no particular clients’ revenue from India and the Philippines, whereas most of the talents’ revenue comes from those two countries.
This means Upwork connects talents from India and The Philippines to the United States and Europe.
The US (25.2%), India (14.2%), and the Philippines (11.1%) are the top freelancing countries
Over 60% of the total gross service volume generated in 2021 on Upwork was from US-based clients.
On the other hand, the GSV produced by US-based freelancers was about 25% for the past five years.
But does Upwork make money?
Upwork lost $56.24 million in 2021 and has been unprofitable for the past five years.
However, analysts predict it will become profitable in 2024.
Upwork Skill Statistics
Over 50% of all freelancers on Upwork provided clients with skilled services
Web Programming (43%), Web Design (31%), and social media marketing (25%) were the top on-demand skills with the highest year-over-year growth on Upwork.
Core services growth in 2020 to 2021 has been:
Services on Upwork | Growth YoY |
|---|---|
| Web Programming | 43% |
| Web Design | 31% |
| Social Media Marketing | 23% |
| Customer Service | 11% |
| Software Development | 9% |
Source: Upwork
Web Design was the top most in-demand tech skill on Upwork
Even thought Web Programming grew quicker in 2021, Web design is still the more in demand skill.
This includes Web design, WordPress, web programming, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, PHP, Shopify, API, and Graphic Design, all the top 10 in-demand tech skills on Upwork.
Social media marketing took the lead as the top most sought-after marketing skill on Upwork
Here are the most on-demand marketing skills on UpWork:
- Social media marketing
- Lead generation
- SEO
- B2B Marketing
- Marketing strategy
- Social media management
- Email marketing
- Marketing research
Upwork Client and GSV Statistics
Upwork had over 750,000 active clients as of Q1 of 2022
As of March 2022, Upwork had 793,000 active clients, a 281,000 increase from Q1 2019 to Q1 2022. Active clients are people that have had spending activity on the platform within the past year.
Upwork had over 145 thousand core clients in 2020
Core clients are clients with all-time spending of at least $5,000 per year, and the number of core clients has increased year on year. It was 105.5 thousand in 2018, 124.4 thousand in 2019, and then 145.4 thousand in 2020.
Upwork’s total gross service volume for 2021 was $3.5 billion
The GSV for 2021 was a $1 billion increase from 2020 ($2.52 billion). There was also a 150% increase in annual GSV between 2017 and 2021. Additionally, about 80% of Upwork’s GSV is generated from medium and small-sized businesses.
The average gross service volume per client was $4,742 as of Q1 2022
Upwork GSV per active client increased by over 15% between Q1 2019 and Q1 2022. However, between Q2 and Q3 of 2020, during the initial covid-19 outbreak, GSV per active client dropped.
The average GSV for freelancers on Upwork is $5,850
According to Upwork, 1 in 800 Upwork freelancers make more than $1000 monthly.
Upwork Services Statistics
Managed Services made up over 7% of the total Upwork revenue in 2021
Upwork’s managed services revenue was at $35.48 million in 2020. In Q1 2022, they generated over $10 million from Enterprise clients, a $6.7 million increase over the past two years.
Upwork charges a 5 to 20% service fee taken directly from the freelancer’s earnings
They take 20% for $0 – $500, 10% for $500.01 -$10,000, and 5% for $10,000.01 or more. Over two-thirds of Upwork’s marketplace revenue comes from freelancers.
Media buyers charge the highest hourly rate on Upwork
Their rates are typical $50 to $200 per hour. Programmers charge $25 to $150 per hour, while business consultants charge $28 to $98 per hour.
Upwork ranks as the 918th most visited website in the world.
In the US, Upwork ranks as the 987th most visited website. It is estimated that Upwork gets 40.8 million website visits monthly and has a low bounce rate.
Over 70% of Upwork talent have college degrees
Male freelancers represent 61.42% of freelancers on Upwork compared with female freelancers, that make up 38.58%.
The Upwork Android App gained 200,000 downloads in April 2022
The Upwork Freelancers App is more popular on Android as it gained 200,000 downloads compared to the App Store – 90,000. Plus, the client app also received 20,000 monthly downloads on both the App store and Google Play Store.
Miscellaneous Upwork Statistics
- Upwork had over 600 employees as of December 2021
- Top Rated freelancers represent the top 10% of Upwork talents
- Upwork is available in over 180 countries
- There are over 200 million global freelancers
- Upwork services 30% of Fortune 100 companies
- Upwork has over 90 categories, and freelancers offer more than 10,000 skills
Sources
- Upwork.com
- Backlinko.com
- Luisazhou.com
- sellcoursesonline.com
