South Africa’s official unemployment rate climbed to 33.6 percent in the second quarter of 2026, leaving 8.5 million people without work, Statistics South Africa said in its latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
The rate rose from 32.7 percent in the first quarter, with the number of unemployed increasing by 345,000 while total employment fell slightly to 16.7 million.
At the same time, the number of people actively seeking jobs grew by 329,000 during the same period.
Youth unemployment worsened sharply, reaching 47.4 percent.
Stats SA reported that five million young people aged 15 to 34 were jobless during the period under review, an increase of 264,000 from the previous quarter.
Youth employment fell by 40,000 to 5.6 million, pushing the rate up by 1.5 percentage points.
Unemployment has long been one of South Africa’s most pressing challenges, with structural weaknesses, slow economic growth and limited job creation leaving millions excluded from the labour market.
The latest figures highlight the scale of the problem, particularly among young people, as the country struggles to reduce poverty and inequality.
The unemployment challenge has been one of the main drivers of the anti-foreigner sentiment that has gripped South Africa in recent years, with locals claiming that people from fellow African countries are “stealing” their jobs.
JN/APA