Creative industries now account for the majority of top categories that freelancers register in to source project-based work over the internet.

According to Elance, three of five of its leading categories are populated by freelancers with creative skills, notably Writing & Translation, Design & Multimedia and Marketing (as well as Sales).

Releasing the UK breakdown, the website’s vice-president Kjetil Olsen announced that growing demand for freelancers to work on projects has increased on a long-term basis.

To evidence the claim, he pointed out that about half of freelancers are signed up for more than six months, and a quarter of clients work with the same freelancer for at least 12 months.

The site also revealed that 21% of its freelance subscribers started freelancing after being laid off from their 9-to-five jobs, while 40% registered with it for the additional income.

Even more positively, the amount earned by such independent, UK-based workers has increased by 47% over the last year, Olsen estimated.