Economy D5, D7
Unemployment — youth especially — and growth.
Unemployment — youth especially D5
Two series, one unit, one axis. The youth measure uses South Africa’s own 15–34 definition, validated against the Stats SA print to within 0.1pp; the ILO’s 15–24 measure reads considerably higher and is a different question. Note the delta is monochrome here for a reason — a falling unemployment rate is the best thing that could happen, and a red arrow would say the opposite.
Table view — Unemployment rate
| Date | All | Youth (15–34) |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Jun 2025 | 33.31% | 46.23% |
| 31 Mar 2025 | 32.93% | 46.11% |
| 31 Dec 2024 | 31.88% | 44.63% |
| 30 Sept 2024 | 32.10% | 45.48% |
| 30 Jun 2024 | 33.49% | 46.64% |
| 31 Mar 2024 | 32.96% | 45.54% |
| 31 Dec 2023 | 32.08% | 44.29% |
| 30 Sept 2023 | 31.93% | 43.43% |
| 30 Jun 2023 | 32.65% | 45.34% |
| 31 Mar 2023 | 32.89% | 46.48% |
| 31 Dec 2022 | 32.73% | 45.33% |
| 30 Sept 2022 | 32.89% | 45.48% |
| 30 Jun 2022 | 33.94% | 46.55% |
| 31 Mar 2022 | 34.52% | 47.81% |
| 31 Dec 2021 | 35.26% | 49.05% |
| 30 Sept 2021 | 34.87% | 49.30% |
| 30 Jun 2021 | 34.38% | 48.10% |
| 31 Mar 2021 | 32.58% | 46.30% |
| 31 Dec 2020 | 32.50% | 46.11% |
| 30 Sept 2020 | 30.79% | 43.20% |
| 30 Jun 2020 | 23.31% | 34.11% |
–Neutral 33.31% in Q2 2025 is still the last print on your record, now 486 days old. The ILO mirror this row is drawn from refused tonight's request for this series (HTTP 403), the first time it has done so in this run of cycles; the youth series from the same mirror was served and is unchanged. When this series was last read, on 28 October, the mirror gave Q1 2026 at 30.97% and Q2 2026 at 32.34%, with nothing for the two quarters between, and we have not added either figure. Statistics South Africa's own release of 11 August puts the official rate at 32.7% in Q1 and 33.6% in Q2, so the mirror reads 1.3 to 1.7 points below the survey it is built from. A year ago the two agreed to about a tenth of a point. Neutral stays as a statement about the record, which did not change. Tonight's refusal changes nothing on your board, because the held-back figures were never going to be added by an overnight run; it does mean that if the refusal persists, the mirror cannot be re-read at all. The figures are held back because your record is append-only, and a figure once added is not quietly removed. Added as they stand, they would show unemployment a point lower than a year ago, while the official count says it is higher: 33.6% against 33.2% in Q2 2025. Whether to take the mirror's figures, correct them or move this row to another source is a decision for a person and not for an overnight run. It is still the first item on our list, and it has not yet been made.
Growth D7
Columns on a visible zero rule: a growth rate crosses zero, and the sign is the thing being read. IMF-harmonised, which reads slightly off the Stats SA print for definitional reasons — Stats SA’s own release is bot-walled.
Table view — GDP growth
| Date | GDP growth |
|---|---|
| 31 Mar 2026 | 2.03% |
| 31 Dec 2025 | 1.53% |
| 30 Sept 2025 | 1.56% |
| 30 Jun 2025 | 0.96% |
| 31 Mar 2025 | 0.41% |
| 31 Dec 2024 | 0.45% |
| 30 Sept 2024 | 0.44% |
| 30 Jun 2024 | 0.35% |
| 31 Mar 2024 | 0.90% |
| 31 Dec 2023 | 1.51% |
| 30 Sept 2023 | -0.33% |
| 30 Jun 2023 | 1.90% |
| 31 Mar 2023 | 0.16% |
| 31 Dec 2022 | 0.99% |
| 30 Sept 2022 | 4.10% |
| 30 Jun 2022 | 0.43% |
| 31 Mar 2022 | 2.76% |
| 31 Dec 2021 | 1.79% |
| 30 Sept 2021 | 2.94% |
| 30 Jun 2021 | 19.18% |
| 31 Mar 2021 | -2.25% |
▲Bullish 2.03% year-on-year in Q1 2026, unchanged and 212 days old. Up from 1.53% in Q4 2025 and 0.41% a year earlier, the strongest reading since 2022. The IMF mirror this series is drawn from still ends at Q1; the September Bulletin is not yet reflected in it. The one domestic structural series still improving at the last count. The Bulletin's rise in fixed investment is consistent with growth holding up in Q2, but this row moves only when the mirror carries the Q2 print.
Where these numbers come from
| Series | Source | Cadence | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment Rate | ILOSTAT SDMX (Stats SA QLFS microdata) | quarterly · quantitative | 2025-06-30 · stale |
| Youth Unemployment Rate (15–34) | ILOSTAT SDMX (Stats SA QLFS) — 15-34 rate computed from counts | quarterly · quantitative | 2025-06-30 · stale |
| GDP Growth | FRED keyless CSV (IMF IFS: Real GDP for South Africa, sa) | quarterly · quantitative | 2026-03-31 · lagging |