Western Cape Records Historic Low Unemployment Rate of 19.7% in Q3 2025
CAPE TOWN, 24 November 2025. The Western Cape province recorded an unemployment rate of 19.7% in the third quarter of 2025, according to data from Statistics South Africa's Quarterly Labour Force Survey, marking the lowest level the province has achieved since the survey adopted its current...
Western Cape Records Historic Low Unemployment Rate of 19.7% in Q3 2025
CAPE TOWN, 24 November 2025. The Western Cape province recorded an unemployment rate of 19.7% in the third quarter of 2025, according to data from Statistics South Africa's Quarterly Labour Force Survey, marking the lowest level the province has achieved since the survey adopted its current methodology and far below the national average of 31.9%.
The province added approximately 70,000 jobs quarter-on-quarter, the largest employment gain of any South African province in Q3 2025, and approximately 65,000 jobs year-on-year. The Western Cape achieved a labour absorption rate of 54.7%, meaning more than half of all working-age residents in the province were in employment, the highest such rate in South Africa.
The Western Cape Premier's office attributed the result to a combination of private-sector growth, sustained infrastructure investment, and provincial economic development programmes targeting tourism, agri-processing, and the technology sector. National Treasury data showed the province has consistently maintained lower unemployment than the national average over the past decade.
Nationally, South Africa's official unemployment rate fell from 33.2% in Q2 2025 to 31.9% in Q3, with total employment increasing by 248,000 persons to reach 17.1 million. Youth unemployment at the national level declined to 58.5%, a two-year low, though it remained among the highest in the world. The Statistics South Africa data, released on 11 November, showed employment gains were concentrated in construction, community services, and trade.
The contrast between the Western Cape's 19.7% rate and the national rate of 31.9% reflected persistent structural disparities between provinces in South Africa's labour market, with provinces such as Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, and the Northern Cape continuing to record rates above the national average despite modest improvements in the quarter.
Statistics South Africa releases the Quarterly Labour Force Survey four times per year. The Q3 2025 data covered the July-September 2025 reference period and was released publicly on 11 November 2025.