South Africa / Jobs
How's the job market in South Africa?
2025 · data family: economicdata.dev
About the same as the year before
32.4%Unemployment rate, 2025
- +0.1 points from 2024 (32.3%)
- World 4.8% the same year
- Higher than in 179 of the 181 countries with a 2025 figure
Compare every country: where South Africa ranks for 2025
- South Africa
- World
Show the numbers (35 rows)
| Year | South Africa | World |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 32.4% | 4.8% |
| 2024 | 32.3% | 4.8% |
| 2023 | 32.1% | 4.8% |
| 2022 | 33.3% | 5.2% |
| 2021 | 34.0% | 6.0% |
| 2020 | 29.2% | 6.6% |
| 2019 | 28.5% | 5.6% |
| 2018 | 26.9% | 5.8% |
| 2017 | 27.0% | 5.9% |
| 2016 | 26.5% | 6.0% |
| 2015 | 25.1% | 6.0% |
| 2014 | 24.9% | 6.0% |
| 2013 | 24.6% | 6.1% |
| 2012 | 24.7% | 6.2% |
| 2011 | 24.6% | 6.1% |
| 2010 | 24.7% | 6.3% |
| 2009 | 23.5% | 6.4% |
| 2008 | 22.4% | 5.8% |
| 2007 | 22.3% | 5.8% |
| 2006 | 22.3% | 6.0% |
| 2005 | 22.5% | 6.2% |
| 2004 | 22.6% | 6.3% |
| 2003 | 22.7% | 6.5% |
| 2002 | 22.6% | 6.4% |
| 2001 | 22.7% | 6.2% |
| 2000 | 22.8% | 6.1% |
| 1999 | 22.9% | 6.3% |
| 1998 | 22.7% | 6.2% |
| 1997 | 22.5% | 6.0% |
| 1996 | 22.5% | 6.0% |
| 1995 | 22.7% | 5.9% |
| 1994 | 23.1% | 5.8% |
| 1993 | 23.4% | 5.5% |
| 1992 | 23.5% | 5.3% |
| 1991 | 23.1% | 5.1% |
Get this data
This page's numbers, as JSON:
curl https://visualizedata.org/data/places/zaf/jobs.jsonThe World Bank API it comes from (live, no key):
curl "https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/zaf/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?format=json&date=1991:2025"What this can't tell you
- Most countries' figures are the ILO's modelled estimates: where a labour force survey is old or missing, a model fills the gap, so small year-to-year changes are often the model, not the economy.
- Unemployment counts people looking for work; in countries with large informal economies, few people can afford to be unemployed, so a low rate does not mean plenty of good jobs.
How the answer is decided
The latest year is compared with the year before: a rise of 1 point or more is 'much higher', 0.3 or more 'higher', a change within 0.3 'about the same', and the same downward.
Sources
- World Bank WDI, SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS: unemployment, % of labour force (modelled ILO estimate), updated 2026-10-08 (CC BY 4.0 (World Bank))
- Built 2026-10-24. Download this answer (JSON)