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Unemployed youth say their degrees are gathering dust.
Youth unemployment has risen by over 10 percentage points in the last 10 years. This is according to the Q1 2025 quarterly labour force survey from StatSA, which showed that youths (aged 15-34 years) face an unemployment burden of 46.1 percent, which has gone up from 36.9 percent recorded in 2015.
University graduates are the least unemployed
StatSA data shows that the most unemployed youth have a “less than matric” qualification at 52 percent, whilst youths who have graduated from university have the best shot at employment, having just 24 percent unemployment.
Among university graduates, the employment data shows that graduates with a postgraduate diploma in addition to a bachelor’s degree are the least unemployed at just eight percent.
Provincial youth unemployment
When it comes to provincial distribution, StatSA data showed that in Q1 2025, the Eastern Cape was the leading province when it comes to youth unemployment at 54 percent, and the Free State had the lowest unemployment among its youth at 20 percent.
