South Africa: labor force participation rate by population group 2021-2023

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the labor force participation rate among Black South Africans reached over 59 percent, marking a year-on-year change of two percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. However, the participation rate of the labor force among Indian/Asian South Africans dropped from about 61 percent in the previous year to 58 percent.

Labor force participation rate in South Africa from Q1 2021 to Q4 2023, by population group

Characteristic	Black/African	Coloured	Indian/Asian	White
Q4 2023	59.4%	60.8%	58%	67.7%
Q3 2023	59.4%	61.4%	59.9%	68.1%
Q2 2023	58.7%	61.6%	59.9%	66.9%
Q1 2023	58.3%	62.8%	60.9%	68%
Q4 2022	57.4%	61.4%	60.9%	67.4%
Q3 2022	57.1%	61.3%	61%	66.7%
Q2 2022	57.9%	59.2%	62%	65.3%
Q1 2022	56%	57.8%	58.1%	65.6%
Q4 2021	55%	58.3%	56.5%	68.7%
Q3 2021	54%	56.4%	55.4%	67%
Q2 2021	56.7%	56%	58.8%	67.4%
Q1 2021	55.3%	57.3%	56.8%	67.1%

52.5%55%57.5%60%62.5%65%67.5%70%

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Release date

February 2024

More information

Region

South Africa

Survey time period

Q1 2023 to Q4 2023

Age group

15-64 years

Supplementary notes

The source asked people to describe themselves in the census in terms of five racial population groups, including others/unspecified. This is a common way to describe ethnic groups in South Africa

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