Wage workers, aged 15-64, total in South Africa

South Africa: Wage workers, aged 15-64, total was 0.8% in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
0.8%
Change on year
down 0.4%
World rank
36th
of 107 countries
All-time high
1.0%
in 2004
All-time low
0.8%
in 2007
Years of data
21
1995–2020

Wage workers, aged 15-64, total in South Africa, 1995–2020

00.20.40.60.811995200720201995: 0.851 % of total employed population in working age2000: 0.903 % of total employed population in working age2001: 0.929 % of total employed population in working age2002: 0.966 % of total employed population in working age2003: 0.964 % of total employed population in working age2004: 0.973 % of total employed population in working age2006: 0.956 % of total employed population in working age2007: 0.82 % of total employed population in working age2008: 0.844 % of total employed population in working age2009: 0.848 % of total employed population in working age2010: 0.845 % of total employed population in working age2011: 0.846 % of total employed population in working age2012: 0.849 % of total employed population in working age2013: 0.855 % of total employed population in working age2014: 0.863 % of total employed population in working age2015: 0.858 % of total employed population in working age2016: 0.853 % of total employed population in working age2017: 0.852 % of total employed population in working age2018: 0.849 % of total employed population in working age2019: 0.841 % of total employed population in working age2020: 0.837 % of total employed population in working age

Source: World Bank. Measured in % of total employed population in working age.

Analysis

South Africa recorded 0.8% for wage workers, aged 15-64, total in 2020.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 0.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, wage workers, aged 15-64, total in South Africa peaked at 1.0% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 0.8%, in 2007.

South Africa ranks 36th of 107 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 21 years of available data.

Wage workers, aged 15-64, total in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Wage workers, aged 15-64, total (% of total employed population in working age) in South Africa, 1995 to 2020.
Year % of total employed population in working age Change
1995 0.9%
2000 0.9% +6.1%
2001 0.9% +2.9%
2002 1.0% +4.0%
2003 1.0% -0.2%
2004 1.0% +1.0%
2006 1.0% -1.7%
2007 0.8% -14.2%
2008 0.8% +2.9%
2009 0.8% +0.4%
2010 0.8% -0.3%
2011 0.8% +0.1%
2012 0.8% +0.3%
2013 0.9% +0.8%
2014 0.9% +0.9%
2015 0.9% -0.6%
2016 0.9% -0.5%
2017 0.9% -0.1%
2018 0.8% -0.4%
2019 0.8% -0.9%
2020 0.8% -0.4%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 1
2000s 0.9% 0.8% 1.0% 9
2010s 0.9% 0.8% 0.9% 10
2020s 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 1

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 33 Jordan 0.8% compare
  2. 34 Slovakia 0.8% compare
  3. 35 Montenegro 0.8% compare
  4. 37 Czechia 0.8% compare
  5. 38 Spain 0.8% compare
  6. 39 Mauritius 0.8% compare

See the full ranking of 107 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is wage workers, aged 15-64, total in South Africa?
Wage workers, aged 15-64, total in South Africa was 0.8% in 2020, according to the World Bank.
What is the highest wage workers, aged 15-64, total recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 1.0% in 2004.
What is the lowest wage workers, aged 15-64, total recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 0.8% in 2007.
How does South Africa rank for wage workers, aged 15-64, total?
South Africa ranks 36th out of 107 countries with data for 2020.
Is wage workers, aged 15-64, total rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.9%. 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 workers, aged 15-64, total (% of total employed population in working age). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Wage workers, aged 15-64, total in South Africa. Statizoid. Retrieved 02 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/wage-workers-aged-15-64-total-percent-of-total-employed-population-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/wage-workers-aged-15-64-total-percent-of-total-employed-population-in-working-age/south-africa/">Wage workers, aged 15-64, total in South Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Wage workers, aged 15-64, total (% of total employed population in working age)
Unit
% of total employed population in working age
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
107 places, 1,597 data points, 1970–2021
Last refreshed