The firm’s analysis of the most recent data made available by HMRC and the ONS reveals that just 9% of self-employed people paid into a personal pension. A record high of 4.6 million people were registered with HMRC as self-employed during the 2013-14 tax year and the figures show that only 420,000 of them made contributions to a personal pension during that year.

By contrast, data from the 2001-02 tax year shows that 3.3 million people were registered as self-employed and 1.1 million, or one in three (34%), of them made contributions to a personal pension. Consequently the total value of pension contributions made by self-employed people fell from £2.5 billion in 2001-02 to £1.6 billion in 2013-14.

Despite this, the average annual pension contribution made by a self-employed person has grown from just over £2,200 in 2001-02 to just over £3,800 in 2013-14.

Prudential has previously uncovered the reasons for a reluctance among self-employed people to contribute to pensions. Surveyed in September 2014, a sample of self-employed workers said that affordability was the main barrier to pension saving. 57% said that they had other financial priorities or simply couldn’t afford it. 9% chose to reinvest any spare money back into their businesses while 6% believed they would never stop working and therefore wouldn’t need a pension.

Vince Smith-Hughes, a retirement income spokesperson at Prudential, said: “Many of those who now enjoy the flexibility of self-employment are risking an inflexible future in retirement. There has been a fundamental shift in the way people work in recent years, with the number of self-employed workers increasing by nearly 40% since 2001. But the step away from the security of salaried work also sees many workers giving up the benefits of company pension schemes and employer contributions.

“While we are seeing many more people in work benefiting from auto-enrolment into company pension schemes, those who don’t have the opportunity of joining such a scheme seem to be turning their back on saving for retirement. Irrespective of your employment status the same general rules apply for those looking to secure a comfortable retirement income – save as much as possible as early as possible in your working life and take professional financial advice.

“It is understandable that re-investing any spare cash into a business is a priority for many entrepreneurs, especially in the years immediately after setting up a company. However, every year that goes by without making any pension contributions is a year less for any savings to grow and help provide for retirement.”