ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa
South Africa: ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in was 5.4 % in 2024. ▼ Falling
ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa, 2000–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 5.4 % for ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.8% on the previous year and up 17.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa peaked at 10.8 % in 2002 and was at its lowest, 4.5 %, in 2011.
South Africa ranks 64th of 116 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 9.8 % | — |
| 2001 | 9.6 % | -2.0% |
| 2002 | 10.8 % | +12.5% |
| 2003 | 9.8 % | -9.3% |
| 2004 | 9 % | -8.2% |
| 2005 | 7 % | -22.2% |
| 2006 | 6.8 % | -2.9% |
| 2007 | 6.6 % | -2.9% |
| 2008 | 5.5 % | -16.7% |
| 2009 | 5 % | -9.1% |
| 2010 | 4.8 % | -4.0% |
| 2011 | 4.5 % | -6.2% |
| 2012 | 4.8 % | +6.7% |
| 2013 | 4.9 % | +2.1% |
| 2014 | 4.6 % | -6.1% |
| 2015 | 5.6 % | +21.7% |
| 2016 | 5.5 % | -1.8% |
| 2017 | 5.2 % | -5.5% |
| 2018 | 5.1 % | -1.9% |
| 2019 | 5.2 % | +2.0% |
| 2020 | 5.5 % | +5.8% |
| 2021 | 5.7 % | +3.6% |
| 2022 | 5.5 % | -3.5% |
| 2023 | 5.5 % | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 5.4 % | -1.8% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 5.4 % is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 16.3 %, 33% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 5.4 % is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 30.4 %, 18% of the median. (13 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.99 % | 5 % | 10.8 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.02 % | 4.5 % | 5.6 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.52 % | 5.4 % | 5.7 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
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 ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa?
- Ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in South Africa was 5.4 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 10.8 % in 2002.
- What is the lowest ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.5 % in 2011.
- How does South Africa rank for ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in?
- South Africa ranks 64th out of 116 countries with data for 2024.
- Is ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.4%. 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 ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in total employment — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 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.