Unemployment and the Labour Force
Statistics South Africa publishes the figures which provide the national unemployment rate as part of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey. This national survey breaks down the working age population (people between age 15-64) into two main categories - those counted as part of the labour force' and those 'outside of the labour force'. The official unemployment rate is the proportion of the labour force that is unemployed. But this rate doesn't account for the population that are of working age, but are categorised as 'outside the labour force'. ‘Discouraged workers’ - i.e people who are unemployed but could not find a job and have given up trying to, are one such category of people not accounted for in the unemployment rate. Stats SA therefore also publishes various other ‘labour underutilisation’ (LU) measures in order to more accurately measure the labour market. These include measurements for time-related underemployment, and the ‘potential labour force’. Note the following categories that the data is broken down into 1. Working-age population = Labour force + Outside the labour force 2. Labour force = Employed + Unemployed 3. Outside the labour force = Potential labour force + Other outside the labour force 4. Potential labour force = People who are seeking work but unavailable for it + People who are available for work, who are not actively seeking it, including 'Discouraged-job-seekers'.
Ask about this data
Ask a question, or ask for a chart — “compare the provinces since 2015”.
Answers are written by AI from this dataset only and can be wrong — check them against the chart and the data below. A few questions are free. Questions are saved without personal details.
The data
75 rows, 16 columns.
- date Date
- last day of each quarter 2008-03-31 – 2026-09-30
- working_age_population Number
- The working age population of South Africa consists of all individuals aged 15-64 who are considered capable of working regardless of their employment status. 31544000 – 42427000
- labour_force Number
- The labour force comprises all persons who are employed, plus all persons who are unemployed. 18266000 – 25418000
- employed Number
- Number of people who - during the reference week, did any work for at least one hour, or had a job or business. (includes those employed in the formal, informal, and household sector) 13648000 – 17099000
- unemployed Number
- Number of unemployed persons according to the Official definition [those aged 15–64 years who: a) were not employed in the reference week; and b) actively looked for work or tried to start a business in the four weeks preceding the survey interview; and c) were available for work, i.e. would have been able to start work or a business in the reference week; or d) had not actively looked for work in the past four weeks but had a job or business to start at a definite date in the future and were available. 4048000 – 8578000
- outside_the_labour_force Number
- Outside the Labour Force (previously Not economically Active): Number of people aged 15–64 years who are neither employed nor unemployed in the reference period. 12736000 – 20578000
- potential_labour_force Number
- Potential Labour Force: The potential labour force includes persons who are not in the labour force, but are either available for work but not actively seeking employment or actively seeking employment but not currently available to work 1797000 – 5994000
- discouraged_job-seekers Number
- 1093000 – 3893000
- other_outside_the_labour_force Number
- Number of people in the working age population outside of the labour force who are not in the potential labour force 10647000 – 14584000
- labour_force_participation_rate Number
- Labour force participation rate is the proportion of the working age population that is either employed or unemployed 47.3 – 60.7
- employed_population_ratio_absorption Number
- The proportion of the working-age population that is employed (also known as the Absorption rate) 35.9 – 46.2
- inactivity_rate Number
- Inactivity Rate also known as the rate of the Not Economically Active Population: The proportion of the working-age population that is neither employed nor unemployed during the reference period 39.3 – 52.7
- lu1-_unemployment_rate Number
- 21.5 – 35.3
- lu2_-_combined_rate_of_unemployment_and_time-related_underemployment Number
- 24.9 – 39.1
- lu3_-_combined_rate_of_unemployment_and_potential_labour_force Number
- 28.7 – 46.7
- lu4_-_composite_measure_of_labour_underutilization Number
- 31.8 – 49.8
Latest rows
| date | working_age_population | labour_force | employed | unemployed | outside_the_labour_force | potential_labour_force | discouraged_job-seekers | other_outside_the_labour_force | labour_force_participation_rate | employed_population_ratio_absorption | inactivity_rate | lu1-_unemployment_rate | lu2_-_combined_rate_of_unemployment_and_time-related_underemployment | lu3_-_combined_rate_of_unemployment_and_potential_labour_force | lu4_-_composite_measure_of_labour_underutilization |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-30 | 42427000 | 25418000 | 16840000 | 8578000 | 17008000 | 4640000 | 3735000 | 12369000 | 59.9 | 39.7 | 40.1 | 33.7 | 36.5 | 44 | 46.3 |
| 2026-06-30 | 42310000 | 25220000 | 16739000 | 8481000 | 17090000 | 4571000 | 3665000 | 12519000 | 59.6 | 39.6 | 40.4 | 33.6 | 36.6 | 43.8 | 46.3 |
| 2026-03-31 | 42189000 | 24891000 | 16754000 | 8137000 | 17298000 | 4851000 | 3893000 | 12447000 | 59 | 39.7 | 41 | 32.7 | 35.9 | 43.7 | 46.3 |
| 2025-12-31 | 42068000 | 24935000 | 17099000 | 7836000 | 17134000 | 4611000 | 3714000 | 12522000 | 59.3 | 40.6 | 40.7 | 31.4 | 34.3 | 42.1 | 44.5 |
| 2025-09-30 | 41948000 | 25062000 | 17055000 | 8007000 | 16886000 | 4529000 | 3481000 | 12357000 | 59.7 | 40.7 | 40.3 | 31.9 | 34.9 | 42.4 | 44.9 |
| 2025-06-30 | 41822000 | 25174000 | 16807000 | 8367000 | 16648000 | 4299000 | 3445000 | 12348000 | 60.2 | 40.2 | 39.8 | 33.2 | 36.1 | 43 | 45.4 |
| 2025-03-31 | 41691000 | 25015000 | 16787000 | 8228000 | 16676000 | 4480000 | 3473000 | 12196000 | 60 | 40.3 | 40 | 32.9 | 36 | 43.1 | 45.7 |
| 2024-12-31 | 41561000 | 25069000 | 17078000 | 7991000 | 16492000 | 4324000 | 3466000 | 12168000 | 60.3 | 41.1 | 39.7 | 31.9 | 35 | 41.9 | 44.6 |
| 2024-09-30 | 41431000 | 24957000 | 16946000 | 8011000 | 16474000 | 4258000 | 3355000 | 12215000 | 60.2 | 40.9 | 39.8 | 32.1 | 35.2 | 42 | 44.7 |
| 2024-06-30 | 41296000 | 25036000 | 16652000 | 8384000 | 16260000 | 4013000 | 3195000 | 12247000 | 60.6 | 40.3 | 39.4 | 33.5 | 36.2 | 42.7 | 45 |
| 2024-03-31 | 41158000 | 24971000 | 16745000 | 8226000 | 16188000 | 3882000 | 3048000 | 12306000 | 60.7 | 40.7 | 39.3 | 32.9 | 35.8 | 42 | 44.5 |
| 2023-12-31 | 41022000 | 24619000 | 16723000 | 7895000 | 16403000 | 3789000 | 3049000 | 12613000 | 60 | 40.8 | 40 | 32.1 | 34.8 | 41.1 | 43.5 |
Downloads of this dataset are for paid members. See plans or sign in