South Africa · Female Labor Force Participation · %

## What this measures

The share of women aged 15 and over in South Africa who are employed or actively looking for work, on the ILO's harmonised definition. Annual, percent of the female population aged 15+.

## Why it matters

Women's participation is one of the largest swing factors in labour supply and a core gender-equality read (UN Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 8). Rising participation widens the workforce employers can hire from; the gap with men shows how much is untapped.

## How to read it

Higher means more women in the workforce. Read it with the male rate: the gap is the clearest gender comparison across countries. Ageing pulls both rates down, so compare with peers of similar age structure.

## What it does not say

It counts paid work and job search, not unpaid care work, and informal work is measured unevenly. The latest years are ILO nowcasts, revised as national labour-force surveys arrive.

## Source

International Labour Organization, ILO Modelled Estimates (ILOEST), via World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator `SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS`. Licence per the World Bank's indicator metadata: CC BY 4.0. Palanor rewrites the full history each week (/api/cron/sovereign-sync), so revisions carry through.