South Africa's youth unemployment crisis deepens as labour market stagnates
As youth unemployment in South Africa surges to 46.1%, the Federation of Unions of South Africa warns of a deepening jobs crisis that demands a coordinated national employment strategy.
South Africa's youth are facing an increasingly hostile job market, with new labour force data revealing that nearly half of young people remain unemployed.
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) says the first quarter of 2025 marks a worsening trend in youth joblessness, with formal employment shrinking and a growing number of young people entering adulthood without ever holding a job.
According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), young people aged 15 to 34 account for approximately 50.2% of the nation's working-age population, translating to about 20.9 million individuals. Disturbingly, the 15-24 age group - approximately 10.3 million strong - faces the steepest barriers to workforce entry, with unemployment rates soaring far above their older counterparts.
It is explained that the challenges confronting young South Africans are not new; however, the current trends appear increasingly grim. In the first quarter of 2015, the youth unemployment rate stood at 36.9%.
Fast forward a decade, and that figure has alarmingly risen to 46.1% in Q1 2025—a staggering 9.2 percentage point increase signalling a bleak future for millions of young individuals.
FEDUSA's recent statement highlights a sobering depiction of worsening joblessness, particularly among the youth suggesting a pressing need for a national and coordinated employment recovery strategy underpinned by inclusive economic reform.
'What is particularly alarming is that the decline in employment is concentrated in the formal sector, which shed 245 000 jobs, signalling a contraction in stable, quality employment opportunities. The marginal growth of 17 000 in the informal sector reveals the increasing precariousness of economic activity. This worsening scenario is the cumulative outcome of years of ineffective policies, uneven structural reforms, poor implementation, and insufficient coordination among government departments. While social partners, especially labour, have advanced proposals to stimulate employment, there has been limited political will to drive bold, labour-absorbing interventions with the urgency required.'
Recent statistics reveal that the number of employed persons has decreased by 291 000, dropping to 16.8 million from 17.1 million in the previous quarter. Concurrently, the number of unemployed individuals has risen by 237 000, culminating in an unemployment tally of 8.2 million.
'FEDUSA is particularly concerned by persistently high levels of youth unemployment. The decade in review by Stats SA shows that many young people are graduating into adulthood, never having been employed. There were 4.8 million unemployed young people in Q1:2025, nearly 59% of them with no previous work experience. Over the past ten years, youth unemployment has rarely dropped below 40%. This reflects deep-seated labour market barriers, including a structural mismatch between education and economic needs, and insufficient job creation. An estimated 3.7 million young people aged 15–34 are not in employment, education, or training (NEET), representing a significant segment at risk of permanent marginalisation.'
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