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Topic

Unemployment

The official unemployment rate, youth unemployment, young people not in employment, education or training, and labour force participation, for South Africa as a whole.

Unemployment rate (official definition)

33.6%

Q2 2026. Up from 32.7% in Q1 2026.

What changed in Q2 2026, and why

Why South Africa has more than one unemployment rate

Unemployment rate (official definition) fell from 34.5% in Q1 2022 to 33.6% in Q2 2026

South Africa's official unemployment rate (strict definition, ages 15–64) rose 0.9 percentage points to 33.6% in Q2 2026. The number of unemployed persons increased by 345,000 to 8.5 million while employment fell by 16,000 to 16.7 million. Separately, the combined rate of unemployment and the potential labour force (LU3) was 43.8%. LU3 is a different measure from the former 'expanded unemployment rate', which Stats SA stopped reporting after Q2 2025, and the two should not be compared directly.

Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey Q2 2026. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.

Show the numbers as a table
PeriodValue
Q1 202234.5%
Q2 202233.9%
Q3 202232.9%
Q4 202232.7%
Q1 202332.9%
Q2 202332.6%
Q3 202331.9%
Q4 202332.1%
Q1 202432.9%
Q2 202433.5%
Q3 202432.1%
Q4 202431.9%
Q1 202532.9%
Q2 202533.2%
Q3 202531.9%
Q4 202531.4%
Q1 202632.7%
Q2 202633.6%

Youth unemployment rate, ages 15 to 34

47.4%Q2 2026. Up from 45.9% in Q1 2026.

Youth unemployment rate, ages 15 to 34 rose from 46.2% in Q1 2022 to 47.4% in Q2 2026, after peaking at 47.8% in Q2 2022

Narrow (strict) unemployment rate for those aged 15–34 who are without work, available for work and actively seeking employment. Stats SA reports the rate rose 1.5 percentage points to 47.4% in Q2 2026; the number of unemployed youth rose by 264,000 to 5.0 million.

Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 2: 2026 (P0211), calculated by SA Data Hub from Table 2.2, pages 26 and 27 (15 to 24 and 25 to 34). Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.

Show the numbers as a table
PeriodValue
Q1 202246.2%
Q2 202247.8%
Q3 202246.5%
Q4 202245.9%
Q1 202347.1%
Q2 202347.4%
Q3 202346.9%
Q4 202346.2%
Q1 202445.8%
Q2 202446.3%
Q3 202446.1%
Q4 202445.7%
Q1 202546.8%
Q2 202546.1%
Q3 202543.7%
Q4 202543.8%
Q1 202645.9%
Q2 202647.4%

Youth unemployment rate, ages 15 to 24

62.8%Q2 2026. Up from 60.9% in Q1 2026.

Youth unemployment rate, ages 15 to 24 fell from 63.9% in Q1 2022 to 62.8% in Q2 2026, after peaking at 64.8% in Q2 2022

Unemployment rate (LU1) among 15–24 year olds, one of the highest youth rates in the world. It rose 1.9 percentage points to 62.8% in Q2 2026. This cohort faces structural barriers including lack of experience, skills mismatch, and geographic concentration of youth outside economic centres.

Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 2: 2026 (P0211), Table 2.2, page 26. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.

Show the numbers as a table
PeriodValue
Q1 202263.9%
Q2 202264.8%
Q3 202263.2%
Q4 202262.7%
Q1 202363.5%
Q2 202363.9%
Q3 202362.8%
Q4 202362.1%
Q1 202461.8%
Q2 202462.4%
Q3 202462.0%
Q4 202461.5%
Q1 202562.3%
Q2 202562.2%
Q3 202558.5%
Q4 202557.0%
Q1 202660.9%
Q2 202662.8%

NEET rate for youth aged 15–24 years

34.0%Q4 2025. Up from 33.9% in Q3 2025.

NEET rate for youth aged 15–24 years rose from 33.5% in Q4 2024 to 34.0% in Q4 2025

Share of young people aged 15–24 who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). Stats SA: "There were about 10,3 million young people aged 15–24 years in Q4: 2025, of which 34,0% were not in employment, education or training. This is 0,5 of a percentage point higher than the NEET rate in Q4: 2024." (QLFS Q4 2025, page 8).

Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 4: 2025 (P0211), section 4.2, page 8, and Table 7b, page 82. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.

Show the numbers as a table
PeriodValue
Q4 202433.5%
Q1 202537.1%
Q2 202535.2%
Q3 202533.9%
Q4 202534.0%

Labour force participation rate

59.6%Q2 2026. Up from 59.0% in Q1 2026.

Labour force participation rate rose from 59.2% in Q1 2020 to 59.6% in Q2 2026, after peaking at 60.7% in Q1 2024

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) is the percentage of the working-age population (15–64) that is either employed or unemployed. It rose 0.6 percentage points to 59.6% in Q2 2026, but is 0.6 points lower than a year earlier.

Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey Q2 2026. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.

Show the numbers as a table
PeriodValue
Q1 202059.2%
Q2 202055.7%
Q3 202056.4%
Q4 202058.1%
Q1 202157.9%
Q2 202158.8%
Q3 202159.3%
Q4 202159.7%
Q1 202260.1%
Q2 202259.8%
Q3 202260.2%
Q4 202260.4%
Q1 202359.9%
Q2 202360.1%
Q3 202360.3%
Q4 202360.5%
Q1 202460.7%
Q2 202460.6%
Q3 202460.2%
Q4 202460.3%
Q1 202560.0%
Q2 202560.2%
Q3 202559.7%
Q4 202559.3%
Q1 202659.0%
Q2 202659.6%

Labour force participation rate for women

54.9%Q2 2026. Up from 53.8% in Q1 2026.

Labour force participation rate for women rose from 54.1% in Q1 2022 to 54.9% in Q2 2026, after peaking at 55.8% in Q2 2024

Labour force participation rate for women aged 15–64 (share of working-age women who are employed or unemployed). It rose 1.1 percentage points to 54.9% in Q2 2026, against 64.4% for men, a gap of about 9.5 percentage points.

Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey Q2 2026. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub . Original data: Stats SA. Any calculation shown is SA Data Hub's own processing.

Show the numbers as a table
PeriodValue
Q1 202254.1%
Q2 202253.8%
Q3 202254.2%
Q4 202254.5%
Q1 202354.0%
Q2 202354.4%
Q3 202354.6%
Q4 202354.8%
Q1 202455.6%
Q2 202455.8%
Q3 202455.2%
Q4 202455.2%
Q1 202554.8%
Q2 202554.9%
Q3 202554.3%
Q4 202554.0%
Q1 202653.8%
Q2 202654.9%

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  • Unemployment: Update expected soon

    Stats SA, Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Updated quarterly. Last updated . Source (opens in a new tab)

    • : Refreshed to QLFS Q2 2026 (33.6%). Historical points for Q2 2023, Q3 2023, Q4 2023, Q1 2025 corrected against original Stats SA releases. Some older observations not re-verified.
    • : Metadata verification run completed for unemployment indicators and source attribution.

  • Youth Unemployment: Update expected soon

    Stats SA, Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Updated quarterly. Last updated . Source (opens in a new tab)

    • : The NEET rate is shown again, now from QLFS Q4 2025 (released 17 February 2026), which SA Data Hub holds: "NEET rate for youth aged 15–24 years", 34.0% in Q4 2025, up 0.5 of a percentage point from Q4 2024 (section 4.2, page 8). The quarterly series from Q4 2024 is from Table 7b, page 82. The old annual series (2019 to 2025) could not be traced to a release and was replaced.
    • : Two youth figures are no longer shown: the expanded youth unemployment rate (60.8%, Q4 2025) and the NEET rate (37.2%, 2025). Their source, QLFS Q4 2025, is not in the files SA Data Hub holds, so their values and release date cannot be checked. The 15 to 24 rate (62.8%) and the 15 to 34 rate (47.4%) for Q2 2026 were checked against QLFS Q2 2026, Table 2.2, pages 26 and 27; the 15 to 34 rate is worked out from the published counts.
    • : Refreshed to QLFS Q2 2026 (15–34: 47.4%; 15–24: 62.8%). Eight Q1 2024–Q4 2025 points for 15–24 corrected. Q1 2026 (15–34) is a derived value, not published directly. youth-unemployment-expanded headline (60.8%) is flagged unsupported; owner decision pending.

  • Labour Force Participation: Update expected soon

    Stats SA, Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Updated quarterly. Last updated . Source (opens in a new tab)

    • : Refreshed to QLFS Q2 2026 (overall LFPR 59.6%, female 54.9%). Historical corrections across all ten female LFPR points and Q1 2024–Q4 2025 overall LFPR points. Unverified labour-force-participation (42.7%) record removed per owner decision D1.
    • : Labour force participation indicators verified and aligned with QLFS metadata.