South Africa
ZA desk: South Africa first; United States, United Kingdom, euro area, Australia and New Zealand alongside.
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As of 2025 | % of total employment
| Year | Vulnerable employment |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 11.66% |
| 2024 | 11.70% |
| 2023 | 10.91% |
| 2022 | 11.26% |
| 2021 | 11.04% |
| 2020 | 10.68% |
| 2019 | 10.67% |
| 2018 | 10.32% |
| 2017 | 9.92% |
| 2016 | 9.59% |
| 2015 | 9.43% |
| 2014 | 8.83% |
| 2013 | 9.53% |
| 2012 | 10.09% |
| 2011 | 10.14% |
| 2010 | 10.15% |
| 2009 | 10.09% |
| 2008 | 10.20% |
| 2007 | 10.40% |
| 2006 | 11.41% |
| 2005 | 11.49% |
| 2004 | 10.69% |
| 2003 | 10.93% |
| 2002 | 11.08% |
Vulnerable employment (SL.EMP.VULN.ZS, modelled ILO estimate) is own-account and contributing-family workers as a share of employment. Latest: 11.66% in 2025.
These jobs usually lack formal contracts and social insurance. A high share is not the same as a low wage, but it is the usual companion of informal work. From 1991 to 2025 (35 years): latest 11.66% (2025), previous year 11.70% (2024); low 8.83% (2014), high 11.91% (1992).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is vulnerable employment as a share of total employment. It counts own-account workers and contributing family workers, who are less likely than employees to have formal contracts, regular income or social insurance. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.EMP.VULN.ZS, a modelled ILO estimate, and the unit is a percentage of total employment. It measures the structure of work, not earnings; a high reading does not by itself say what people are paid.
The two components overlap with informality but are not identical to it, and national definitions vary. Because the series is modelled, values are estimates assembled from surveys and censuses and revised as inputs change. Use the chart and range buttons for the trend in one economy and the table for the latest published figure. Comparisons are fairer over time and at a broad level than between economies with a one- or two-point gap. Definitions of own-account work differ, so treat the level as indicative.
South Africa appears first, with comparison economies where the producer publishes them. This desk filters the same official series as the all-countries view; it does not recalculate values.
Output per worker and employment-share indicators come from World Bank Open Data. The employment shares are ILO-modelled estimates published by the Bank. Each page gives its indicator and source link.
Chart and Table show the same observations. Range buttons change only the displayed years; use Country to switch desks. Each page names its source and licence.