Informal economy

An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government.

Informal economy: Haircut on a sidewalk in Vietnam.

Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countries, it is sometimes stigmatized as troublesome and unmanageable. However, the informal sector provides critical economic opportunities for the poor and has been expanding rapidly since the 1960s.Integrating the informal economy into the formal sector is an important policy challenge.

Unlike the formal economy, activities of the informal economy are not included in a country's gross national product (GNP) or gross domestic product (GDP). The informal sector can be described as a grey market in labour.

Other concepts that can be characterized as informal sector can include the black market (shadow economy, underground economy), agorism, and System D. Associated idioms include "under the table", "off the books", and "working for cash".