Youth Unemployment Rate In South Africa 2024. Youth unemployment continues to spiral despite many interventions. As of today, south africa hit an unemployment rate of 32.1%, making it the country with the highest unemployment rate on the continent in 2024.
High youth unemployment was among the issues that led to the african national congress losing its parliamentary majority in may’s general election. Figure 1 illustrates the persistent challenge of a high share of young people between the ages of 15 to 24 years who are neet in south africa over the last decade, with a rate consistently exceeding 30%.