Work & Labour in South Africa 106 indicators covering work & labour for South Africa. IndicatorLatest Year10-yr change Rank Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) 24.5% 2025 up 4.0% 142nd Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) 29.1% 2025 down 1.8% 167th Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) 26.8% 2025 up 0.7% 156th Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15 55.4% 2025 up 6.5% 120th Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) 65.9% 2025 up 0.9% 162nd Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15-6 60.6% 2025 up 3.6% 138th Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15 49.9% 2025 up 4.5% 119th Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) 80.8% 2025 up 5.2% 85th Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) 61.7% 2025 down 0.7% 158th Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 55.6% 2025 up 1.8% 136th Employers, female (% of female employment) 3.3% 2025 up 44.5% 29th Employers, male (% of male employment) 7.6% 2025 up 1.3% 27th Employers, total (% of total employment) 5.6% 2025 up 8.8% 29th Self-employed, female (% of female employment) 14.7% 2025 up 21.8% 131st Self-employed, male (% of male employment) 19.4% 2025 up 17.0% 139th Self-employed, total (% of total employment) 17.3% 2025 up 18.4% 134th Wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) 85.3% 2025 down 3.0% 56th Wage and salaried workers, male (% of male employment) 80.6% 2025 down 3.4% 48th Wage and salaried workers, total (% of total employment) 82.7% 2025 down 3.1% 53rd Contributing family workers, female (% of female employment) 0.7% 2025 down 10.8% 140th Contributing family workers, male (% of male employment) 0.5% 2025 up 45.4% 132nd Contributing family workers, total (% of total employment) 0.6% 2025 up 9.8% 136th Employment in industry, female (% of female employment) 11.6% 2025 down 2.3% 74th Employment in industry, male (% of male employment) 28.4% 2025 down 14.9% 66th Employment in industry (% of total employment) 20.8% 2025 down 12.9% 73rd Employment in services, female (% of female employment) 84.6% 2025 up 0.9% 57th Employment in services, male (% of male employment) 64.8% 2025 up 8.1% 41st Employment in services (% of total employment) 73.8% 2025 up 4.6% 42nd Unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24) 64.1% 2025 up 16.0% 4th Unemployment, youth male (% of male labor force ages 15-24) 56.5% 2025 up 22.4% 2nd Unemployment, youth total (% of total labor force ages 15-24) 59.9% 2025 up 19.6% 2nd GDP per person employed 48,694 constant 2021 PPP $ 2025 down 1.9% 82nd Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) 32.3% 2024 up 29.7% 2nd Unemployment, male (% of male labor force) 30.4% 2024 up 31.4% 2nd Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) 34.4% 2024 up 27.5% 3rd Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15 49.8% 2024 up 7.3% 124th Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) 61.7% 2024 up 1.6% 166th Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 55.6% 2024 up 4.2% 146th Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) 24.7% 2024 up 8.0% 134th Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) 28.8% 2024 up 4.1% 159th Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) 80.6% 2024 up 5.5% 91st Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) 26.8% 2024 up 5.8% 151st Unemployment, youth total (% of total labor force ages 15-24) 60.1% 2024 up 17.2% 1st Unemployment, youth male (% of male labor force ages 15-24) 57.0% 2024 up 18.7% 1st Unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24) 63.8% 2024 up 15.4% 1st Share of youth not in education, employment or training, female (% of 35.7% 2025 up 7.9% 33rd Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of ma 33.7% 2025 up 20.4% 8th Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of y 34.7% 2025 up 13.8% 18th Productivity: output per hour worked 19.42 international-$ in 2021 prices per hour 2023 down 15.2% 74th Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, female (%) 8.8% 2025 down 16.5% 173rd Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, male (%) 12.7% 2025 down 20.7% 185th Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, total (%) 10.8% 2025 down 19.1% 183rd Employment to population ratio, 15+, female (%) 32.9% 2025 down 4.8% 157th Employment to population ratio, 15+, male (%) 42.6% 2025 down 10.8% 182nd Employment to population ratio, 15+, total (%) 37.6% 2025 down 8.0% 170th Vulnerable employment, female (% of female employment) 11.4% 2025 up 16.6% 129th Vulnerable employment, male (% of male employment) 11.9% 2025 up 29.9% 149th Vulnerable employment, total (% of total employment) 11.7% 2025 up 23.7% 142nd Unemployment with basic education 39.3% 2024 up 24.1% 2nd Unemployment with basic education, male 36.7% 2024 up 27.6% 1st Page 1 of 2 Next →