South Africa’s formal non-agricultural employment decline has persisted into a fourth year, with the number of jobs recorded in June falling every year since 2023.

Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) data show that formal non-agricultural employment stood at 10.425 million in June 2026.

That compares with 10.509 million in June 2025, 10.716 million in June 2024 and 10.860 million in June 2023.

The figures mean that South Africa had 435 000 fewer formal non-agricultural jobs in June 2026 than it did three years earlier, a decline of about 4.0%.

The Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey measures jobs recorded by businesses and other employers in South Africa’s formal non-agricultural economy.

It therefore differs from Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, which surveys households and includes people working in agriculture, informal businesses, private households, and in self-employment.

The QES consequently provides a narrower measure of employment but gives a clearer indication of what has happened to formal payroll jobs in the economy.

The latest figures show that the decline has continued despite changes in the political and economic environment over the period and most especially the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

Bheki Mahlobo told The Common Sense, “The data are unfortunately to be expected because formal sector job growth will take its lead from the country’s overall investment and growth rates and these remain flat because the unity government, like the African National Congress predecessor ahead of it, has not made any significant headway on policy reform.”

According to Mahlobo, “Policy reform is easy to track, and the best measure is the rate of fixed investment because that number tells you whether the reform environment is actually becoming more conducive to investment. But that number remains flat since the GNU and is actually lower than it was when business and the government hatched the National Development Plan in 2012.”

Yesterday The Common Sense ran a report showing that, had the investment and growth rates kept pace with the top end of emerging market norms, the number of people living in poverty would have been around 10 million lower than it is.

South Africa currently records a national unemployment rate of over 30% and a youth unemployment rate of over 50%. The global unemployment rate is under 5%.

But Mahlobo said the way out of trouble for South Africa was easy.

“Put port and rail infrastructure fully under private management, refit the coal fleet, tap the oil and gas reserves, strike a trade pact with America, and take proper advantage of China’s tariff-free economic access and South Africa will have no trouble at all in lifting its growth rate to between 2% and 3%. From there it is a simple matter to accelerate more specific reforms, ranging from charter schools to expanded low-fee medical aid access to get the growth rate up to 4% and maybe even 5%. Hold it there for a generation and the unemployment rate will come down to nearer 10%.”