Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa

South Africa: Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education was 0.8% in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
0.8%
Change on year
down 1.5%
World rank
38th
of 89 countries
All-time high
1.0%
in 1995
All-time low
0.8%
in 2020
Years of data
20
1995–2020

Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa, 1995–2020

00.20.40.60.811995200720201995: 1 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2000: 0.989 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2001: 0.994 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2002: 0.99 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2003: 0.986 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2004: 0.99 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2006: 0.99 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2007: 0.855 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2008: 0.875 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2009: 0.88 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2010: 0.868 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2011: 0.873 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2013: 0.865 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2014: 0.871 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2015: 0.875 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2016: 0.858 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2017: 0.866 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2018: 0.869 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2019: 0.853 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector2020: 0.84 % of workers with high education in the industrial sector

Source: World Bank. Measured in % of workers with high education in the industrial sector.

Analysis

In 2020, wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa stood at 0.8%. That is the lowest value across all 20 years on record.

The figure is down 1.5% on the previous year and down 3.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa peaked at 1.0% in 1995 and was at its lowest, 0.8%, in 2020.

South Africa ranks 38th of 89 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 20 years of available data.

Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education (% of workers with high education in the industrial sector) in South Africa, 1995 to 2020.
Year % of workers with high education in the industrial sector Change
1995 1.0%
2000 1.0% -1.1%
2001 1.0% +0.5%
2002 1.0% -0.3%
2003 1.0% -0.5%
2004 1.0% +0.5%
2006 1.0% -0.0%
2007 0.9% -13.6%
2008 0.9% +2.2%
2009 0.9% +0.6%
2010 0.9% -1.3%
2011 0.9% +0.5%
2013 0.9% -0.9%
2014 0.9% +0.7%
2015 0.9% +0.4%
2016 0.9% -1.9%
2017 0.9% +0.9%
2018 0.9% +0.3%
2019 0.9% -1.9%
2020 0.8% -1.5%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 1
2000s 0.9% 0.9% 1.0% 9
2010s 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 9
2020s 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 1

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 35 Jamaica 0.8% compare
  2. 36 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 0.8% compare
  3. 37 Tunisia 0.8% compare
  4. 39 Ireland 0.8% compare
  5. 40 Slovakia 0.8% compare
  6. 41 Armenia 0.8% compare

See the full ranking of 89 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa?
Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa was 0.8% in 2020, according to the World Bank.
What is the highest wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 1.0% in 1995.
What is the lowest wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 0.8% in 2020.
How does South Africa rank for wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education?
South Africa ranks 38th out of 89 countries with data for 2020.
Is wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 3.2%. 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 Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education (% of workers with high education in the industrial sector). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa. Statizoid. Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/wage-employment-in-industry-aged-15-64-above-primary-education-percent-of-workers-with/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/wage-employment-in-industry-aged-15-64-above-primary-education-percent-of-workers-with/south-africa/">Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education in South Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Wage employment in industry, aged 15-64, above primary education (% of workers with high education in the industrial sector)
Unit
% of workers with high education in the industrial sector
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
89 places, 1,195 data points, 1970–2021
Last refreshed