Unemployment remains high as job creation continues to trail labour-force growth, while weak domestic demand and diamond-sector uncertainty threaten to constrain hiring.
GAZETTE REPORTER
Botswana’s labour-market outlook remains challenging, with structural rigidities, weak labour absorption capacity and low productivity growth continuing to weigh on job creation, the Bank of Botswana (BoB) says in its August 2026 Monetary Policy Report.
“Addressing these challenges will require sustained efforts to stimulate private sector-led growth, accelerate economic diversification, and enhance labour market efficiency,” the report says, adding that these measures are needed to support “inclusive and durable employment creation.”
Unemployment Persists
Preliminary results from the 2024/25 Botswana Multi-Topic Household Survey, conducted by Statistics Botswana between November 2024 and November 2025, estimated unemployment at 21 percent.
That was 3.4 percentage points higher than the 17.6 percent recorded in 2015/16, when a similar survey was conducted.
The report says that although both the labour force and total employment expanded during the period, “employment growth lagged labour force growth,” leaving unemployment persistently high.
Youth unemployment stood at 28.9 percent in 2024/25, compared with 25.1 percent in 2015/16. The BoB says the figures “underscore ongoing challenges in labour absorption and the need for employment-intensive growth.”
Quarterly Multi-Topic Survey data separately showed unemployment rising from 25.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023 to 27.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024. Youth unemployment rose from 34.4 percent to 38.2 percent over the same period.
Formal-sector employment increased by 2.9 percent to 504,738, but the report says the gains were insufficient to offset wider labour-market pressure.
Public Sector Weight
Public administration remained the largest source of formal employment, accounting for 30.3 percent of total formal-sector jobs. Education followed at 13.2 percent, while wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles accounted for 12.6 percent.
Personal emoluments represented approximately 50 percent of recurrent government spending and about 13 percent of GDP, highlighting fiscal rigidities that could constrain future employment expansion.
Growth And Jobs
The report’s longer-term assessment points to weak employment elasticity of growth. Between the third quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2024, the labour force increased by 10.7 percent to 1,041,204 people, while employment rose by only 1.2 percent. Average GDP growth during the period was 2.7 percent.
The overall unemployment rate reached 27.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024, up 6.9 percentage points from 20.7 percent in the third quarter of 2019.
Hiring Outlook
With the economy contracting in 2024 and 2025, the report says labour-market conditions are “likely to have deteriorated further in 2025.”
It says the slowdown in the diamond market has had “major spillover effects on mining-related industries and downstream services.”
Looking ahead, weak domestic demand, subdued private-sector profitability and continued uncertainty in the diamond industry are expected to constrain hiring.
“The absorption of new entrants into the labour force is expected to remain limited,” the report says.