{"id":843696,"date":"2025-11-18T20:21:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T18:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=843696"},"modified":"2025-11-18T20:21:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T18:21:32","slug":"south-africas-unemployment-rate-is-530-higher-than-the-average-g20-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/843696\/south-africas-unemployment-rate-is-530-higher-than-the-average-g20-country\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s unemployment rate is 530% higher than the average G20 country"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa\u2019s official unemployment rate of 31.9% is five times higher than the average of the other G20 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier international forum for economic cooperation, bringing together the world’s major advanced and developing economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G20’s primary purpose is to discuss and coordinate policies aimed at addressing global challenges and enhancing international financial stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G20 also aims to promote strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was founded in 1999, following the Asian financial crisis, as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss global economic issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G20 was elevated to the level of heads of state in the wake of the 2007 global economic and financial crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, it was designated the \u201cpremier forum for international economic cooperation\u201d, making it a core component of global financial stability and prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G20 initially focused mainly on broad macroeconomic issues, but it has since expanded its agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It now includes trade, sustainable development, health, agriculture, energy, environment, climate change, and anti-corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G20 Summit is held annually, under the leadership of a rotating Presidency. This year, South Africa will host the summit as the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G20 Presidency is responsible for bringing together the G20 agenda in consultation with other members and in response to developments in the global economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-level priorities for the 2025 G20 Summit include promoting inclusive economic growth, industrialisation, employment, and reducing inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delegates will discuss ensuring food security and harnessing Artificial Intelligence and innovation for sustainable development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the host, South Africa is also advocating for the development priorities of the African continent and the Global South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes addressing debt sustainability and reform of the international financial architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

G20 countries and South Africa\u2019s position<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies: the European Union and the African Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, and Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others are the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, T\u00fcrkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G20 members represent approximately 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of global trade, and about two-thirds of the world’s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa has the smallest economy among the nineteen G20 countries, and it has the highest unemployment rate by far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa’s official unemployment rate fell to 31.9% in the third quarter of 2025, down from 33.2% in the previous quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this decline, the local unemployment rate remains significantly out of sync with that of other G20 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of South Africa, Turkey has the highest unemployment rate at 8.6%, followed by France at 7.7% and Argentina at 7.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average unemployment rate of the 19 countries in the G20 is 5.1%, which means that South Africa\u2019s unemployment rate is 530% higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below provides a summary of South Africa’s unemployment rate compared to that of other G20 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Country<\/strong><\/td>Unemployment Rate<\/strong><\/td>Data Reference Period<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
South Africa<\/td>31.9%<\/td>Q3 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Turkey<\/td>8.6%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr>
France<\/td>7.7%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Argentina<\/td>7.6%<\/td>Q2 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Canada<\/td>6.9%<\/td>Oct 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Italy<\/td>6.1%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Brazil<\/td>5.6%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr>
China<\/td>5.1%<\/td>Oct 2025<\/td><\/tr>
United Kingdom<\/td>5.0%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Indonesia<\/td>4.9%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr>
United States<\/td>4.3%<\/td>Aug 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Australia<\/td>4.3%<\/td>Oct 2025<\/td><\/tr>
India<\/td>5.2%<\/td>Oct 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Germany<\/td>6.3%<\/td>Oct 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Saudi Arabia<\/td>3.2%<\/td>Q2 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Mexico<\/td>3.0%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Japan<\/td>2.6%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr>
South Korea<\/td>2.6%<\/td>Oct 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Russia<\/td>2.2%<\/td>Sep 2025<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa\u2019s official unemployment rate of 31.9% is five times higher than the average of the other G20 countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":797487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[7185,24157,24156,3651],"class_list":["post-843696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-g20","tag-g20-summit","tag-group-of-twenty-g20","tag-unemployment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843696"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843700,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843696\/revisions\/843700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}