South Africa
ZA desk: South Africa first; United States, United Kingdom, euro area, Australia and New Zealand alongside.
−0.44 pp
As of 2025 | % of female labour force
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 34.00% |
| 2024 | 34.44% |
| 2023 | 34.56% |
| 2022 | 35.38% |
| 2021 | 36.30% |
| 2020 | 31.00% |
| 2019 | 30.48% |
| 2018 | 29.01% |
| 2017 | 29.22% |
| 2016 | 28.95% |
| 2015 | 27.49% |
| 2014 | 26.98% |
| 2013 | 26.49% |
| 2012 | 27.01% |
| 2011 | 27.15% |
| 2010 | 26.94% |
| 2009 | 25.50% |
| 2008 | 25.68% |
| 2007 | 25.52% |
| 2006 | 25.57% |
| 2005 | 25.77% |
| 2004 | 25.89% |
| 2003 | 26.03% |
| 2002 | 25.94% |
Female unemployment is ILO modelled unemployment among women in the female labour force (SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS). Latest: 34.00% in 2025.
Compare it with the male series on this site; a gap can reflect both joblessness and who is counted in the labour force. From 1991 to 2025 (35 years): mean 28.10%, median 26.96%; low 25.50% (2009), high 36.30% (2021).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the unemployment rate for women: women without work who are available for and actively seeking it, as a share of the female labour force. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate that uses the same definition as the all-ages rate. It says nothing about how many women work; it describes joblessness among women who are in the labour market. The gap with the male series can reflect joblessness, but it can also reflect differences in participation, because people outside the labour force are not counted as unemployed.
The chart plots annual observations for the economies you select; the range buttons shorten the period and the legend or table adds and removes lines. The ranked ledger shows each economy’s latest published year, and those years differ. Read the female and male series together, and check participation, before drawing a conclusion about labour-market conditions. The values are modelled estimates built from national surveys and censuses and revised as inputs change.
The South Africa desk places South Africa first and shows the United States, the United Kingdom, the euro area, China, Australia, India and New Zealand alongside, as far as each indicator covers them. It republishes the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates as the all-countries pages, filtered to this set, and does not recompute them for the desk. Taiwan appears only on the headline unemployment page, from the IMF World Economic Outlook, because the World Bank does not publish it. This desk is reachable by its address but is not listed in the Country selector, and the page is set to noindex.
Switch between Chart and Table for the same values, and use the range buttons to change the period. Each page prints its indicator, source and licence. Survey coverage and the treatment of informal work vary, so compare the direction of travel and broad level rather than small gaps.