Unemployment rate in South Africa, 2021
Unemployment rate in 2021: Annual value — 34.3 % of the labour force. Comparison with the previous year and position in the series history. Official data — International Monetary Fund.
Unemployment rate in 2021
- Value: 34.3 % of the labour force
- Change vs 2020: +5.125 % of the labour force (+17.57 %)
- Position in history: above the 47-year average (average — 23.1087 % of the labour force)
- This is the maximum over the available series history (47 years)
- Series minimum — 9.2406 % of the labour force in 1980 (41 years ago)
- Value date: 1 January 2021
- Source: International Monetary Fund
Dynamics over neighbouring years
| Year | Value, % of the labour force |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 26.725 |
| 2017 | 27.45 |
| 2018 | 27.125 |
| 2019 | 28.7 |
| 2020 | 29.175 |
| 2021 | 34.3 |
| 2022 | 33.5 |
| 2023 | 32.375 |
| 2024 | 32.6 |
| 2025 | 32.35 |
Full history and interactive chart
Complete series for South Africa — on the Unemployment rate page.
Other years
- Unemployment rate in 2011
- Unemployment rate in 2012
- Unemployment rate in 2013
- Unemployment rate in 2014
- Unemployment rate in 2015
- Unemployment rate in 2016
- Unemployment rate in 2017
- Unemployment rate in 2018
- Unemployment rate in 2019
- Unemployment rate in 2020
- Unemployment rate in 2022
- Unemployment rate in 2023
- Unemployment rate in 2024
- Unemployment rate in 2025
- Unemployment rate in 2026