South Africa’s Provinces With the Highest Employment Rates Revealed

• The Western Cape recorded South Africa's highest employment rate at 55.4%, followed by Gauteng at 44%, according to Stats SA's latest figures
• Western Cape Premier Alan Winde celebrated the province's addition of 69,000 jobs over the past year, bringing total employment to 2.88 million
• The Eastern Cape recorded the country's lowest employment rate at 29.6%, while only two provinces performed above the national average

SOUTH AFRICA - The Western Cape has retained its position as the province with the highest employment rate in South Africa, according to the latest figures released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

The figures are contained in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the third quarter of 2026, released on Tuesday, 10 November 2026.

Western Cape and Gauteng top the list

The Western Cape recorded the highest absorption rate at 55.4%. This means more than half of the province's working-age population was employed. Gauteng came second with an employment rate of 44%, followed by Mpumalanga at 38.1% and the Free State at 37.8%.

Read also

Cape Town vs Johannesburg: New stats show how much more CPT residents pay to live

South Africa's provinces ranked by employment rate

The provincial employment absorption rates for the third quarter of 2026 were:

1. Western Cape – 55.4%
2. Gauteng – 44%
3. Mpumalanga – 38.1%
4. Free State – 37.8%
5. Northern Cape – 36.7%
6. Limpopo – 36.5%
7. KwaZulu-Natal – 34.8%
8. North West – 32.1%
9. Eastern Cape – 29.6%

The national employment absorption rate stood at 39.7%, meaning only the Western Cape and Gauteng performed above the national average.

More jobs created, but unemployment remains high

The provincial figures come as South Africa continues to battle high unemployment. Stats SA reported that the country's official unemployment rate increased slightly from 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026 to 33.7% in the third quarter.

The number of employed people increased by 101,000 to 16.8 million, while the number of unemployed people rose by 97,000 to 8.6 million.

The formal sector recorded an increase of 268,000 jobs, with the finance industry contributing the largest gain of 111,000.

Read also

Cyril Ramaphosa approves salary increases for public office-bearers, South Africans react with anger

At provincial level, the Western Cape recorded the biggest employment increase, adding 48,000 jobs. North West followed with 45,000, while the Eastern Cape added 36,000 and Gauteng 25,000.

See X post from StatsSA here:

Alan Winde celebrates Western Cape's employment performance

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has celebrated the province's employment performance, pointing to an increase in jobs over the past year.

Taking to X, Winde said the province had 69,000 more jobs than a year ago, bringing total employment to 2.88 million.

He highlighted that the Western Cape was the only province where employment increased compared with the same period last year.

Winde also pointed to the province's unemployment rate, which dropped to 19.4%, significantly below the national rate of 33.7%.

"We will keep doing everything we can to grow the economy, remove barriers and connect more residents to jobs," he added.

Graduate shares official employment frustrations

Briefly News reported that a young South African graduate shared a TikTok clip showing the gap between earning her degree and her current reality.The graduate works as a Checkers Sixty60 retail worker packing groceries despite holding a qualification. Fellow graduates flooded the comments with their own stories of unemployment after finishing their studies.

Source: Briefly News