Eswatini, South Africa Lead Continent in Staggering Unemployment Rates for 2025
World Bank data reveals Southern Africa as a hotspot for labour market challenges, with five nations in the top ten.
New data, modelled by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and published by the World Bank, indicates that Eswatini faced Africa's most severe unemployment rate in 2025, reaching a staggering 34.2%. South Africa was not far behind, registering 32.39%, underscoring significant challenges within the continent's labour markets, particularly in the southern region.
The World Bank confirmed that South Africa's unemployment figures remained above 30% throughout 2025, a persistent issue that, according to Trading Economics, saw the rate further increase to 33.6% in 2026. This trend is part of a broader regional pattern, with five Southern African nations prominently featuring among the ten countries experiencing the highest unemployment rates across the continent, signaling a concentrated area of economic distress.
The comprehensive list of African countries with the highest unemployment rates in 2025, based on Global Economy data from a dataset covering 51 nations, includes: Eswatini (34.2%), South Africa (32.39%), Djibouti (26.01%), Botswana (24.48%), Gabon (20.15%), the Republic of Congo (19.88%), Namibia (19.29%), Somalia (18.95%), Libya (18.76%), and Lesotho (16.32%). Notably, four of these countries recorded unemployment rates exceeding 24%, while seven surpassed the 19% threshold.
While these figures present a stark picture for several economies, the average unemployment rate across the 51 African countries analysed in 2025 stood at 8.91%. In contrast to the highest rates, Niger recorded the lowest unemployment rate in the dataset at a mere 0.39%, illustrating the vast disparities in labour market performance across the continent.
For East African readers, Kenya's position offers a different perspective; the nation ranked 28th across the continent with an unemployment rate of 5.45% in 2025. Despite this comparatively lower figure, unemployment remains a critical domestic concern. A study published by Infotrak on December 30, 2025, based on 1,000 interviews, identified unemployment as the primary financial challenge for Kenyans, alongside rising educational expenses, underscoring its impact even in economies with more moderate overall rates.
The persistent high unemployment rates in key African economies, especially in the southern sub-region, pose a significant hurdle for sustainable development and poverty reduction efforts across the continent. Addressing these structural challenges will be crucial for fostering inclusive growth and stability. (TUKO)