Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa

South Africa: Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban was 0.3% in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
0.3%
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
5th
of 97 countries
All-time high
0.4%
in 2002
All-time low
0.2%
in 2008
Years of data
19
1995–2020

Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa, 1995–2020

00.10.20.30.41995200720201995: 0.226 % of urban labor force in working age2000: 0.268 % of urban labor force in working age2001: 0.276 % of urban labor force in working age2002: 0.384 % of urban labor force in working age2003: 0.282 % of urban labor force in working age2004: 0.275 % of urban labor force in working age2008: 0.211 % of urban labor force in working age2009: 0.227 % of urban labor force in working age2010: 0.241 % of urban labor force in working age2011: 0.242 % of urban labor force in working age2012: 0.242 % of urban labor force in working age2013: 0.245 % of urban labor force in working age2014: 0.249 % of urban labor force in working age2015: 0.25 % of urban labor force in working age2016: 0.265 % of urban labor force in working age2017: 0.265 % of urban labor force in working age2018: 0.261 % of urban labor force in working age2019: 0.276 % of urban labor force in working age2020: 0.276 % of urban labor force in working age

Source: World Bank. Measured in % of urban labor force in working age.

Analysis

The most recent figure for unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa is 0.3%, measured in 2020.

The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 14.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa peaked at 0.4% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 2008.

South Africa ranks 5th of 97 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 19 years of available data.

Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban (% of urban labor force in working age) in South Africa, 1995 to 2020.
Year % of urban labor force in working age Change
1995 0.2%
2000 0.3% +18.8%
2001 0.3% +2.7%
2002 0.4% +39.3%
2003 0.3% -26.6%
2004 0.3% -2.3%
2008 0.2% -23.5%
2009 0.2% +7.7%
2010 0.2% +6.2%
2011 0.2% +0.2%
2012 0.2% -0.1%
2013 0.2% +1.4%
2014 0.2% +1.6%
2015 0.3% +0.7%
2016 0.3% +5.6%
2017 0.3% +0.1%
2018 0.3% -1.6%
2019 0.3% +6.0%
2020 0.3% -0.1%

South Africa compared with similar countries

  • South Africa's 0.3% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.1%, 3.5× the median. (30 countries reporting)
  • South Africa's 0.3% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.1%, 3.0× the median. (14 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
2002 +39.3% 0.3% 0.4%
2003 -26.6% 0.4% 0.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 1
2000s 0.3% 0.2% 0.4% 7
2010s 0.3% 0.2% 0.3% 10
2020s 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 1

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 2 Kosovo 0.4% compare
  2. 2 Kosovo (UNSCR 1244) 0.4% compare
  3. 4 Djibouti 0.3% compare
  4. 6 Greece 0.3% compare
  5. 7 Spain 0.2% compare
  6. 8 Croatia 0.2% compare

See the full ranking of 97 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa?
Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa was 0.3% in 2020, according to the World Bank.
What is the highest unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 0.4% in 2002.
What is the lowest unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 2008.
How does South Africa rank for unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban?
South Africa ranks 5th out of 97 countries with data for 2020.
Is unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 14.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this South Africa data come from?
The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban (% of urban labor force in working age). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa. Statizoid. Retrieved 13 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/unemployment-rate-aged-15-64-urban-percent-of-urban-labor-force-in-working-age/south-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/unemployment-rate-aged-15-64-urban-percent-of-urban-labor-force-in-working-age/south-africa/">Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban in South Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Unemployment rate, aged 15-64, urban (% of urban labor force in working age)
Unit
% of urban labor force in working age
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
97 places, 1,339 data points, 1970–2021
Last refreshed