Categories: Top story of the day

ILO shocker- Zimbabwe unemployment only 5 percent

Unemployment in Zimbabwe is only 5.4 percent and this is likely to remain so until next year, according to a chart released by the International Labour Organisation today.  Unemployment in Zimbabwe is usually put at between 80 and 90 percent, but the ILO chart shows that unemployment in Zimbabwe has been steady at 5.3 and 5.4 percent. The ILO says that its unemployment rates might be different from those published by national sources due to differences in coverage and definitions. Ironically, according to the ILO chart, while Zimbabweans are flocking to Botswana and South Africa, unemployment is higher in the two countries with Botswana at 18.2 percent and South Africa at 25.1 percent. Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti was booed two years ago when he said Zimbabwe’s unemployment was 9 percent. The ILO says it was 5.3 percent.

(474 VIEWS)

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

View Comments

  • (Unemployment) not employment .people should be careful .these words confuse .stupied people . 5% maybe employed . But i would put it at 1 percent employed . Not that 5.4% nonsense

    • Thamanda, it's 5.4% unemployment rate. What it means is that 94.6% of Zimbabweans are employed. Where are you failing to get it?

Share
Published by
Charles Rukuni

Recent Posts

Zimbabwe third among the least free countries in SADC

Zimbabwe has been ranked third among the least free countries in Southern Africa but it…

May 24, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death- Take 1

I had always considered it a curse for a wife to die before her husband.…

May 18, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death

This is a true story about the challenges and loneliness I faced when my wife…

May 17, 2026

Coming soon

My first long-form article in booklet form: Why I had a girlfriend two months after…

May 16, 2026

Insider Publisher starts whatsapp channel

The editor and publisher of The Insider, Charles Rukuni, has started a whatsapp channel through…

May 15, 2026

Who propped whom: Masiyiwa vs Nyambirai?

A friend who knows about my legal battle with Zimbabwe’s richest man, Strive Masiyiwa, way…

May 1, 2026