The impact of COVID-19 on business enterprises in Nigeria also highlights the significant decline in revenues of enterprises and establishments across the country as a result of the pandemic.
….losses concentrated mainly in the private sector
Based on Stats SA's latest Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), South Africa lost 121,000 jobs over the past 12 months.
According to Stats SA, total employment declined by 1.1 percent year-on-year between March 2025 and March 2026.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, employment declined by 0.8 percent (or 80,000 jobs), from 10,548,000 in December 2025 to 10,468,000 in March 2026.
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The survey shows negative trends for workers and consumers alike.
The decline was mainly due to sharp contraction in several key sectors.
Highest loss sector
Community services saw the heaviest losses, falling by 53,000 or 1.9 percent, followed by the business sector with 40,000 jobs, representing a decline of 1.7 percent.
The transportation sector declined by 3,000 positions, while the power sector declined by 1,000 jobs. In contrast, manufacturing and business services recorded modest employment growth, increasing by 7,000 jobs each, with mining and construction increasing by 2,000 and 1,000 jobs, respectively.
Full-time and part-time employment trends
The economic recession hit both full-time and part-time positions hard. Full-time employment declined by 24,000 quarter-on-quarter to 9,409,000 in March 2026, representing a total decrease of 48,000 positions year-on-year.
Part-time employment declined even more sharply, falling by 56,000 to 1,059,000 during the quarter to March 2026. This steep quarterly decline resulted in a total loss of 73,000 part-time jobs year-over-year.
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This QES data follows May's disappointing Quarterly Labor Force Survey (QLFS), which showed that the country's unemployment rate rose to 32.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, suggesting that 301,000 individuals lost their jobs.
While the QES is an enterprise-based survey that collects data from private, non-agricultural businesses, the QLFS is a worker-based survey that samples the broader labor force, including the agricultural and informal sectors.
Increasing financial pressure on consumers
Elna Moolman, PhD, group head of South African macroeconomic research at Standard Bank Group, said job losses in the private sector paint a “pretty bleak picture” for South African consumers.
This is particularly evident as the loss was concentrated in wholesale, hotels and accommodation, sectors where consumer spending pressures are most visible.
“In the first quarter of this year, the credit bureau data that we track shows an increase in financial pressures on consumers,” Moolman said.
He highlighted that this pressure manifested itself in a widespread increase in non-performing loans and an increase in the proportion of consumers with overdue loans.
Moolman said, “In the second quarter, we saw a significant increase in the cost of living and the SARB increased rates by a quarter percentage point. We expect consumers to remain under pressure for the rest of this year.”
