Economy
Jobs and prices: Stats SA's unemployment rate each quarter and the inflation rate each month, with the long-run charts and the next release dates.
Unemployment
South Africa's official unemployment rate was 33,7% in the third quarter of 2026 (July to September), up from 33,6% in the second quarter and 31,9% a year earlier. The rise since the second quarter is 0,1 points, well inside the survey's margin of error, so the rate has barely moved. The rise over the year, 1,8 points, is larger than that margin. That is 8 578 000 people without work who were looking for it, 571 000 more than a year earlier, while the number of people with jobs fell by 215 000 to 16 840 000. On the expanded measure (LU3), which also counts people who want work but are not looking, the rate was 44,0%, up from 43,8% in the second quarter and 42,4% a year earlier. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) published these figures in its Quarterly Labour Force Survey on 10 November 2026.
Next release. Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), October to December 2026: date to confirm. Stats SA's release for July to September 2026 gives only the month: February 2027.
The unemployment rate since 2008
The official rate counts people who looked for work in the four weeks before the survey. The expanded rate (LU3) adds the potential labour force: people who want work and are available but did not look, often because they have given up. The gap between the two lines is now about ten percentage points.
Source of the basic data: Stats SA, Quarterly Labour Force Survey (P0211), QLFS trends workbook Q1 2008 to Q3 2026, Table 2.3. Chart: MzansiData's own processing of the data.
By province
The dots are the official rate in July to September 2026; the line through each dot is an approximate 95% range, worked out from the sampling error Stats SA publishes for each province. Where two provinces' ranges overlap, the survey can't tell them apart with confidence. The open circles are the expanded rate.
Source of the basic data: Stats SA, QLFS Q3 2026 (P0211), Table 2.3 of the trends workbook and Table 2.3A (coefficients of variation). Dashed line: South Africa,
The eight metros
Source of the basic data: Stats SA, QLFS Q3 2026 (P0211), July to September 2026. Ranges: MzansiData's own processing of the data.
Inflation
Consumer prices in South Africa were 4,5% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, up from 4,4% in August. Core inflation, which leaves out food, non-alcoholic drinks, fuel and energy, was 4,0%. Prices rose 0,4% from August to September; transport, with fuel up 6,2% in the month, added 0,3 of a percentage point of that. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) published these figures in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) release on 21 October 2026.
Next release. Consumer Price Index (CPI), October 2026: Wednesday 18 November 2026, 10:00. This is the date on Stats SA's own advance release calendar.
Inflation since 1980
The line is the official inflation rate, as Stats SA published it each month: the rise in consumer prices over the previous 12 months. Inflation was in double figures for most of the 1980s and early 1990s, and has mostly stayed between 3% and 7% since 2000.
Source of the basic data: Stats SA, CPI History (Table B2, the official rates as published in each month's CPI release), with P0141 September 2026. Chart: MzansiData's own processing of the data.
By province
Source of the basic data: Stats SA, CPI September 2026 (P0141), provincial indices (December 2024 = 100). Annual rates: MzansiData's own processing of the data; they match the rates in Stats SA's release.
What went up most
Source of the basic data: Stats SA, CPI September 2026 (P0141), indices for all urban areas by group. Annual rates: MzansiData's own processing of the data; they match Table E of Stats SA's release.
Stories
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Downloads and sources
- South Africa's mid-year population by province, 2002 to 2026 (Stats SA, 2026 series)
- Unemployment in South Africa: Stats SA's Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Q1 2008 to Q3 2026, national, provinces and metros
- Inflation in South Africa: Stats SA's Consumer Price Index, monthly, headline since 1922, provinces and groups since 2008
Every file we may share is on the downloads page, with its source and terms.
About the unemployment figures
- Official rate (LU1). People aged 15 to 64 without work who actively looked for work or tried to start a business in the four weeks before the interview, and could start. It is the figure Stats SA reports as the unemployment rate.
- Expanded rate (LU3). The official count plus the potential labour force: people available for work who did not look, and people who looked but could not start yet. Stats SA reports it as the combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force. Older releases used a different broad measure under the name expanded definition; this page uses LU3 for every quarter, from Stats SA's trends workbook, so the line is one consistent series.
- A survey, so a range. The QLFS interviews a sample of households, so each rate has sampling error. For South Africa it is small (about plus or minus 1,0 points); for a province it is about two to five points, and for a metro up to about eight.
- Not seasonally adjusted. Unemployment tends to rise in some quarters every year. Compare a quarter with the same quarter a year earlier.
- New questionnaire. Stats SA revised the QLFS questionnaire from July 2025. It says the official unemployment rate is measured as before, so it stays comparable; the broader measures changed with the new questions about people outside the labour force.
The full table, every quarter since 2008 for the country, the provinces and the metros, with definitions and sources, is in the unemployment data package.
Source of the basic data: Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 3: 2026 (P0211), published 10 November 2026, and its QLFS trends workbook 2008 to 2026Q3. The tables, ranges and charts are MzansiData's own processing of the data. Next release: the forthcoming issue line on the cover of Stats SA's Quarter 3: 2026 release, checked on 10 November 2026.
About the inflation figures
- Headline inflation. The change in the CPI for all urban areas over 12 months: how much more the same basket of goods and services costs than a year earlier. It is the rate Stats SA reports as the inflation rate.
- Core inflation. The same, leaving out food and non-alcoholic beverages, fuel and energy, whose prices jump around. It shows the steadier trend in prices.
- Not every price every month. Some items, like rents, school fees and municipal charges, are surveyed only a few times a year, so they move the index in the months they are surveyed.
- Breaks. Up to December 2008 the headline CPI covered only the main urban areas; from January 2009 it covers all urban areas, and Stats SA changed how the CPI is compiled. Stats SA links the two into one series.
- The index. Stats SA's index is set to 100 in December 2024: the headline index of 108,1 in September 2026 means prices 8,1% higher than then.
The full tables, the headline rate every month since 1922 and the provinces and groups since 2008, with definitions and sources, are in the inflation data package.
Source of the basic data: Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), Consumer Price Index, September 2026 (P0141), published 21 October 2026, its CPI time series (release 2026 09) and the CPI History. The tables, rates and charts are MzansiData's own processing of the data. Next release: Stats SA advance release calendar for P0141, checked on 8 November 2026.