South Africa's unemployment rate climbed to 33.2% in the second quarter of 2025, Statistics SA revealed on Tuesday, 12 August.
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According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) Q2: 2025 results, there was an increase of 19,000 in the number of employed persons to 16.8 million, while there was an increase of 140,000 in the number of unemployed persons to 8.4 million. This resulted in an increase of 159,000 (up by 0.6%) in the labour force during the same period.
Stats SA survey reported that discouraged work-seekers decreased by 28,000 (down by 0.8%), and the number of persons who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement remained unchanged between the first quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2025. This led to a decrease of 28,000 in the number of the not economically active population to 16.6 million.
The above changes in employment and unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate increasing by 0.3 of a percentage point from 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025 to 33.2% in the second quarter of 2025. The expanded unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2025 decreased by 0.2 of a percentage point to 42.9% when compared with the first quarter of 2025, which was 43.1%.
Formal vs informal employment
The number of persons employed in the formal sector increased by 34,000 in Q2: 2025, and the informal sector employment decreased by 19,000 over the same period.
The largest industry increases in employment were recorded in Trade (88,000), Private households (28,000) and Construction (20,000). Decreases in employment were recorded in Community and social services (42,000), Agriculture (24,000), Finance (24,000), Transport (15,000), Utilities (6,000) and Manufacturing (5,000).
The results also indicate that the highest increases in employment were observed in Gauteng (95,000) and Eastern Cape (89,000), while decreases were observed in Western Cape (117,000), KwaZulu-Natal (86,000) and Northern Cape (28,000).
Youth unemployment
The youth (15–34 years) remain vulnerable in the labour market. The results for the second quarter of 2025 show that the total number of unemployed youth increased by 39,000 to 4.9 million compared with Q1: 2025, while employed youth recorded an increase of 31,000 to 5.7 million.
As a result, the youth unemployment rate remained unchanged at 46.1% in the second quarter of 2025.
