ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa
South Africa: ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in was 3.8 % in 2025. ▼ Falling
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa, 1991–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa is 3.8 %, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 11.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa peaked at 7.4 % in 1992 and was at its lowest, 3.2 %, in 2014.
South Africa ranks 109th of 175 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 7.3 % | — |
| 1992 | 7.4 % | +1.4% |
| 1993 | 7.3 % | -1.4% |
| 1994 | 7.3 % | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 7.3 % | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 7.3 % | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 7.2 % | -1.4% |
| 1998 | 7.2 % | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 7 % | -2.8% |
| 2000 | 6.8 % | -2.9% |
| 2001 | 5.9 % | -13.2% |
| 2002 | 7.1 % | +20.3% |
| 2003 | 6 % | -15.5% |
| 2004 | 5.9 % | -1.7% |
| 2005 | 4.5 % | -23.7% |
| 2006 | 4.6 % | +2.2% |
| 2007 | 4.3 % | -6.5% |
| 2008 | 4.1 % | -4.7% |
| 2009 | 3.7 % | -9.8% |
| 2010 | 3.6 % | -2.7% |
| 2011 | 3.5 % | -2.8% |
| 2012 | 3.6 % | +2.9% |
| 2013 | 3.5 % | -2.8% |
| 2014 | 3.2 % | -8.6% |
| 2015 | 4.3 % | +34.4% |
| 2016 | 3.9 % | -9.3% |
| 2017 | 3.8 % | -2.6% |
| 2018 | 3.9 % | +2.6% |
| 2019 | 3.8 % | -2.6% |
| 2020 | 4 % | +5.3% |
| 2021 | 3.7 % | -7.5% |
| 2022 | 4 % | +8.1% |
| 2023 | 4 % | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 3.8 % | -5.0% |
| 2025 | 3.8 % | +0.0% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 3.8 % is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 10.1 %, 38% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 3.8 % is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 44.8 %, 8% of the median. (43 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | +34.4% | 3.2 % | 4.3 % |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 7.26 % | 7 % | 7.4 % | 9 |
| 2000s | 5.29 % | 3.7 % | 7.1 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.71 % | 3.2 % | 4.3 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.88 % | 3.7 % | 4 % | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 106 El Salvador 4.5 % compare
- 106 Mexico 4.5 % compare
- 106 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 4.5 % compare
- 109 Algeria 3.8 % compare
- 109 Latvia 3.8 % compare
- 109 New Zealand 3.8 % compare
More agriculture & rural data for South Africa
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 7.11 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0283 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 186.56 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.812 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3618 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 2.8% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 2.8% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa?
- Ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa was 3.8 % in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 7.4 % in 1992.
- What is the lowest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.2 % in 2014.
- How does South Africa rank for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in?
- South Africa ranks 109th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in total employment - ILO Modelled Estimates — Female — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Employment indicators domain focuses on indicators related to employment in agrifood systems and rural areas. The update is performed yearly, using data from the International Labour Organization (ILO) database that contains a rich set of indicators from a wide range of topics related to labour statistics. The indicators published in FAOSTAT are derived from the labour force statistics (LFS) and rural and urban labour markets (RURURB) databases of the ILOSTAT database. In addition, the ILO modelled estimates and projections (ILOEST) are used to provide information on employment in agriculture. FAOSTAT also publishes indicators on employment in agrifood systems (AFS) from 2000 at the national, regional, and global levels, using a methodology developed by the FAO to estimate the number of people employed within these systems.