The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) shows that South Africa’s working-age population (defined as those between the ages of 15 and 64) stood at 42.2 million people in the first quarter of 2026, up by 121 000 from the fourth quarter of 2025. Of that total, 21.0 million people, or 49.7%, were aged 15 to 34.

Despite making up nearly half of the working-age population, young people remain largely excluded from work. In the first quarter of 2026, 5.6 million young people aged between 15 and 34 were employed, 4.7 million were unemployed, and 10.6 million were outside the labour force.

The national unemployment rate stood at 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026, but the youth figures were far worse. Among those aged 15 to 24, unemployment stood at 60.9%, while the rate among those aged 25 to 34 was 40.6%.

The scale of South Africa’s crisis is even starker by global comparison.

The International Labour Organisation estimates that the global unemployment rate will remain at 4.9% in 2026, meaning South Africa’s national unemployment rate of 32.7% and youth unemployment rate of 60.9% place the country in a category of its own.

That makes South Africa a complete exception in global labour market terms and poses a vast risk to the country’s future stability.

Stats SA’s figures also show how few young people are being absorbed into the economy. Among those aged between 15 and 24, the absorption rate was just 10.1%, the lowest of any age group. For those aged 25 to 34, the participation rate was 72.0%, while the absorption rate was 42.8%, leaving a 29.2 percentage point gap between those active in the labour market and those actually employed.

The crisis extends beyond those formally counted as unemployed. In the first quarter of 2026, around 3.9 million of South Africa’s 10.3 million young people aged between 15 and 24 were not in employment, education, or training (NEET). That means the NEET rate for this group stood at 37.6%. For the broader 15-to-34 age group, the NEET rate reached 45.6%.

The year-on-year comparison points to worsening vulnerability. The NEET rate for both the 15-to-24 and 15-to-34 age groups increased by 0.5 percentage points between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.

Young women remain worse affected. In the first quarter of 2026, the proportion of young women aged between 15 and 24 who were NEET was 39.2%, up 1.7 percentage points from the first quarter of 2025. Among young men, the rate fell from 36.7% to 36.0% over the same period. Stats SA said the female NEET rate had remained above the male rate for years, with the gap reaching 3.2 percentage points in the first quarter of 2026.

Among young people who do have work, employment remains concentrated in trade, community and social services, and finance. Trade accounted for 23.6% of youth employment, followed by community and social services at 19.9%, and finance at 18.5%.

Elementary occupations accounted for the largest share of youth jobs at 24.6%, followed by sales and services at 19.2%, and clerks at 13.8%.

Relatively few young people were employed in higher-skilled occupations, with managers making up 4.7%, professionals 6.1%, and technicians 9.1% of youth employment.