FREE STATE RECORDS SECOND HIGHEST DECREASE IN UNEMPLOYMENT
12 November 2025
Consistent with its magnificent performance in the 2024 gross domestic product (GDP) outcomes, the Free State, according to national carrier of statistics, StatsSA, realized the second highest decrease in unemployment in the 3rd quarter of 2025. According to the quarterly labour force survey (QLFS), released yesterday, 11 November 2025, the Free State’s unemployment rate declined from 38.5 percent in the 2nd quarter to 36.2 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2025. This represents a decrease of 2.3 percentage points, second only to Limpopo, which realized a staggering decrease of 5.2 percentage points.
While this decrease in the unemployment rate must be applauded, it is not sufficient to turn the socio-economic situation around. In fact, it must be noted that the Free State remains the province with 3rd highest rate of unemployment, after Eastern Cape and North West. The data above shows that whilst the Free State performed amongst the top 3 highest provinces on economic growth statistics, appeared amongst the 3rd lowest performers on addressing unemployment.
This further exposes a structural weakness of the provincial economy that is growing, but failing to create jobs. This is largely because the largest sectors in the Free State economy possess a relatively lower propensity to create jobs. It must be noted, though, that the Free State economy is in the right direction in terms of basic economic theory which asserts that economic growth is a key driver of job creation.
I argue that the Free State, with its developing economy, could learn some important lessons from Limpopo, which saw the highest increase in the annual growth rate (0.9 percent, 2025), and highest decline in the quarterly unemployment rate (5.2 percent, Q3:2025) in the country.
According to the Limpopo Development Plan (LPD), the province envisaged their economy to grow by 2.0 percent. This low, not so ambitious, realistic growth target allowed the province to use its resources to attain its goals. Whilst the growth rate outcomes have been erratic over the years, the province was able to grow its economy beyond the 2.0 percent target in 2021, when the output grew at 5.5 percent.
This was a rebound from the ravaging covid-19 shock. The 2024 growth rate of 0.9 percent, which was higher than the national average, places the province on a path to achieve their target by 2030, or even surpass it. This long-term planning, and commitment to set goals, is commendable and is a lesson for other provinces.
The LDP (2025 – 2030), states the following about the industrialization agenda; “Limpopo Province is poised for transformative industrial growth, leveraging its abundant natural resources, strategic location, and growing infrastructure. The province’s industrialisation agenda is anchored on its comparative advantages such as agriculture, mining, and tourism towards driving an inclusive and sustainable economic development.”
Limpopo has intentionally anchored their industrialization strategy around special economic zones, industrial parks, and skills for the economy. Their approach towards industrial development is not theoretical, but pragmatic. The province has, over decades, invested heavily in the industrialization agenda, which is now bearing fruits.
Limpopo has displayed a deep sense of policy focus, investing heavily in those areas where they have strengths and competitive advantages, like mining and agriculture, through beneficiation and agro-processing. This focussed economic development strategy, accompanied by targeted, expansionary fiscal policy, is the reason why Limpopo is performing well on the economy, and these are the lessons that must be learnt.
The Free State, because of its advantageous central location, large mineral deposits (gold, diamond, natural gas), and favourable climatic conditions for agriculture, must adopt a radical approach towards industrialization, where raw materials are not exported entirely, but are beneficiated and processed locally for local growth and job creation for locals.
Makhele is a public sector economist and a social activist. He writes in his personal capacity
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