How large is the informal sector in South Africa? Statistics South Africa estimates imply that informal employment represents 18% of total employment (when excluding informal agricultural employment) and 6.0% GDP (as at 2017). Statistics South Africa does not provide informal employment estimates for agriculture, which according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has a very high proportion of informal employment in South Africa (at about 75%). The Statistics South Africa figure for Informal sector (non-agricultural) employment is around 3 million, compared to an ILO estimate of around 8 million if agriculture is included. ILO estimates imply that informal employment represents over 40% of total employment, while output of the informal sector is estimated to represent almost 30% of output. These estimates suggest that South Africa’s informal sector is smaller relative to the formal sector than in most other African countries.
Mining, electricity, gas and water has the lowest proportion of informal employees at below 5%, according to the ILO. There have only been small changes in the proportion of informal employment since 2014.
