South Africa’s jobless rate fell with a slight margin in the third quarter of 2025, with construction being the biggest contributor, confirmed Statistics South Africa (StatsSA). The official unemployment rate now stands at 31.9% in July-September down from 33.2% in April-June 2025. The positive change in unemployment rate can be attributed to the resilient Small and Medium Business (SME) sector, as indicated in the StatsSA report released on Tuesday 11 November that the 248 000 newly employed people were absorbed by the sector.
The SME sector is estimated to contribute between 34% to 40% of South Africa’s GDP, but this could be more. In many emerging economies such as Ghana Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) account for up to 70% of GDP. While numbers fluctuate, South Africa’s SMEs contribute about 60% of all employment in South Africa that put food on the table for millions of people and boost economic growth.
Randburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) CEO Richard Ntjana says the SME sector, like everywhere in the world, should be given priority as the largest contributor of job creation. “In the US, the world’s leading economy is built on small businesses, which are responsible for about half of all new job creation and economic activity, and they employ a significant portion of the workforce. They are vital for innovation, driving local economic growth, and fostering competition”, says Ntjana.
Ntjana further indicated that in order to absorb even more people the sector needs support, “In South Africa, a country battling with high rate of unemployment, the number of unemployed people fell by 360,000 to 8 million thanks to the informal economy. However, despite this improvement, the total labour force, those who are either working or actively looking for work, actually decreased by 112,000 people. This requires a multifaceted approach. The government and private sector could do more to capacitate the people in the informal economy to enable them explore their horizons. We need to build on entrepreneurs and small business.”
The Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) report further indicated that young people aged 15 to 24 years are still most affected by joblessness. Statistician General at Stats SA Risenga Maluleke “Young people remain vulnerable to the labour market. When we look at those aged 15-24 years, the unemployment rate is sitting at 58,5%, followed by those aged 25-34 years with an unemployment rate at 38,4%.” Maluleke said in terms of the population category, black people still bear the brunt of unemployment.
“The black Africans, sitting with an unemployment rate of 35,8%, are the ones with the highest unemployment rate in the country and higher than the national rate. Those that are lower than the national average, lowest being the white population, followed by the Indian population, followed by the coloured population.”