Economy · Unemployment rate · South Africa
South Africa’s unemployment rate was 33.6% in Apr 2026.
33.6%
Apr 2026
First published value.
Updated 19 Oct 2026
In plain words
33.6%
What it is. Unemployed share of the labour force, on the national statistics office's published definition.
Neither way is good in itself. Whether a change is welcome depends on why it happened, so read it against its own history and other countries.
Why it matters. A percentage puts countries of different sizes on the same footing, so it can be compared across borders and over time.
| Period | Unemployment rate · South Africa |
|---|---|
| Apr 2026 | 33.6% |
Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey (P0211), second quarter 2026, official unemployment rate · Licence: Public official statistic, cited with attribution; reuse terms not separately reviewed
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Strata-AF™ Data, Unemployment rate, South Africa, Apr 2026; source Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey (P0211), second quarter 2026, official unemployment rate, retrieved 19 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/unemployment-rate/south-africa
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Methodology
Unemployed share of the labour force, on the national statistics office's published definition.
Unemployed people as a share of the labour force, on each national statistics office's published definition. Unit: %. Each quarter is dated by its first day.
Source: South Africa, Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey, official (strict) rate, which counts only people actively seeking work. Other countries will be added once their 2026 releases have been checked.
Updated each quarter after the agency's release. Definitions and survey methods differ by country, for example strict versus expanded measures, so rates are not directly comparable across countries. Broader underutilisation measures are not shown.