South Africa's youth unemployment crisis has deepened, with almost half of young people now without work, according to the latest official labor figures.
Statistics SA's quarterly labor force survey shows that the youth unemployment rate, which includes people aged 15 to 34, rose to 45.8% in the first quarter of 2026.
This represents an increase of 2.0 percentage points over the previous quarter, driven by rising job losses and fewer young people entering employment.
The job crisis for youth in South Africa deepens
according to statisticsThe total number of unemployed youth increased by 181,000 to 4.7 million, while the number of employed youth decreased by 258,000 to 5.6 million.
The scale of the problem highlights how concentrated South Africa's labor market challenges are among young workers, many of whom are entering a system that is not creating adequate entry-level opportunities.
At the same time, the number of discouraged people looking for work is also increasing, suggesting that more young people are giving up actively looking for work.
Since youth constitute a large share of South Africa's population, this trend has significant and worrying implications for long-term economic stability and social development.
Two provinces where job losses are having the biggest impact
The data also revealed that Gauteng and North West The sharpest declines were recorded, with job losses of 67,000 and 80,000, respectively.
GautengThe country's economic core is feeling the pressure, especially in many sectors Construction, Transportation and Community Services.
The province's recession is significant given its role in driving National Employment Trends.
north westMeanwhile, the sharpest provincial declines were seen, reflecting ongoing weakness in mining-related employment and related industries.
KwaZulu-NatalHowever, the only province to record was slight increase in employmentAdding nearly 6,000 jobs, offering a rare positive sign in an otherwise weak labor market.