How does South Africa’s unemployment rate compare with its neighbours?

South Africa’s unemployment rate is currently sitting above 30%, but how does the country’s jobs crisis compare with its neighbours?

The latest figures from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) show that the official unemployment rate increased to 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026, up from 32.7% in the first quarter.

The number of unemployed people increased by 345 000 to 8.5 million.

However, when comparing countries, it is important to use a consistent measure.

The regional comparison below uses the World Bank’s latest ILO-modelled unemployment estimates for 2025, which apply a common methodology across countries.

South Africa’s unemployment rate

South Africa recorded an estimated unemployment rate of 32.4% in 2025 under the World Bank’s ILO-modelled measure.

That places South Africa among the countries with the highest unemployment rates in Southern Africa.

The latest official South African figure is even higher, however.

Stats SA reported that unemployment rose by 0.9 of a percentage point between the first and second quarters of 2026.

At the same time, the number of employed people fell by 16 000 to 16.7 million.

How South Africa compares with its neighbours

The World Bank data show significant differences across the region.

CountryUnemployment rateEswatini

34.2%

South Africa

32.4%

Botswana

24.5%

Namibia

19.3%

Lesotho

16.3%

Zimbabwe

9.3%

Mozambique

6.6%

Eswatini had the highest estimated unemployment rate among South Africa’s neighbours at 34.2%, narrowly ahead of South Africa’s 32.4%.

Botswana followed at 24.5%, while Namibia recorded an estimated rate of 19.3%.

Lesotho was lower at 16.3%, while Zimbabwe and Mozambique recorded considerably lower modelled unemployment rates of 9.3% and 6.6%, respectively.

Unemployment rate: South Africa still faces a major jobs crisis

Despite the lower figures recorded by several neighbouring countries, unemployment remains a major challenge in South Africa.

The latest Stats SA figures show that 8.5 million people were unemployed in Q2 2026.

The country’s broader labour-underutilisation rate, which includes unemployed people, those working fewer hours than they want and people who are available for work but not actively seeking employment, stood at 46.3%.

Young people are particularly affected.

Stats SA said the number of unemployed people aged 15 to 34 increased by 264 000 to 5 million in the second quarter.

The youth unemployment rate rose by 1.5 percentage points to 47.4%.

Why the figures are different

The 32.4% figure should not be confused with South Africa’s latest official 33.6% rate.

The 32.4% figure is the World Bank’s 2025 ILO-modelled estimate, which is useful when comparing countries using a common methodology.

The 33.6% figure comes from Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey and represents South Africa’s official national unemployment rate for Q2 2026.

For that reason, the World Bank figures provide the fairest regional comparison, while the Stats SA figure gives the most up-to-date picture of South Africa’s domestic labour market.

The comparison shows that South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the region.