South Africa’s unemployment rate increased from 20% in 1994 to 33% in 2024

South Africa’s unemployment rate increased from 20% in 1994 to 33% in 2024. Most of the damage was done over the last fifteen years.

Before South Africa’s first democratic election, the country was in financial trouble with a stagnant economy and economic growth averaging 0.2%.

The country faced increasingly strict international trade embargoes and boycotts, crippling its ability to import oil and other vital commodities.

Stemming the decline was challenging. The unemployment rate rose sharply from 1994 to 2002, reaching 27%. However, things started to change.

Frans Cronje, head of the Social Research Foundation, said the ANC did a great job with the economy in its first fourteen years in power.

The ruling party restored economic stability and raised the living standards of most South Africans, which was also reflected in the unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate declined from 27% in 2002 to 21% in 2007 when Thabo Mbeki was President, and the country was on an excellent economic growth trajectory.

However, after Jacob Zuma replaced Mbeki as President, South Africa’s economy started to deteriorate. Within a decade, unemployment was back at 27%.

The decline continued under President Cyril Ramaphosa, with official unemployment reaching 33% in 2024.

According to South Africa’s most recent expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged work-seekers, South Africa has an unemployment rate of 41.9%.

Youth unemployment in South Africa is a particularly pressing issue, and many organisations say it spells trouble for the country.

61% of South Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed, and 42% of those between 25 and 34.

Academics highlighted that slow economic growth, regulatory burdens, wage bargaining issues, and lack of experience exacerbate the situation.

They said the structural nature of unemployment in the country is a significant hurdle to getting jobs for millions of young South Africans.

These problems include supply-side challenges, such as poor-quality education and limited entrepreneurial education.

Adverse social conditions, such as teenage pregnancy and substance abuse, also severely hinder young people’s ability to secure and maintain employment.

On the demand side, the economy’s sluggish growth and limited entrepreneurial activity result in insufficient job opportunities for young job seekers.

Moreover, market misalignments, including a mismatch between the skills of youth and available job opportunities, further complicate the situation.

Many of these problems are caused by the government, and it is its responsibility to fix them. However, it is always difficult for the people who created the problem to fit it.

South Africa’s official unemployment rate

The chart below gives an overview of the official unemployment rate between 1994 and 2024.