Botswana’s unemployment crisis is tightening its grip on young people with new official data revealing that job creation is failing to keep pace with a growing labour force. The report that this leaves thousands of youth locked out of economic opportunity.
according to the report, preliminary findings from Statistics Botswana show that the country’s overall unemployment rate has climbed to 21 percent in 2024/25; up from 17.6 percent in 2015/16 which is a sharp increase that underscores mounting pressure on the labour market.
But according to official figures , it is the youth who are bearing the brunt. The report shows that unemployment among those aged 15 to 35 years has risen to 28.9 percent, up from 25.1 percent a decade ago. Young women are the most affected, with an unemployment rate of 30.7 percent, compared to 27.2 percent for young men.
Employment rose from 689,528 in 2015/16 to 804,663 in 2024/25, an increase of 16.7 percent. However, the labour force grew even faster by 21.7 percent which reached over 1 million people.
The report shows that nearly 3 in 10 young people in Botswana cannot find work.“Youth unemployment remains elevated and continues to pose a structural challenge,” Statistics Botswana said in its March 2026 labour force brief. The figures show that jobs growth fails to match Demand.
Figure show that while the economy has added jobs over the past decade, the pace has been too slow to absorb new entrants into the labour market.
Employment rose from 689,528 in 2015/16 to 804,663 in 2024/25, an increase of 16.7 percent. However, the labour force grew even faster by 21.7 percent which reached over 1 million people.
The result detail a swelling pool of unemployed citizens.The number of unemployed people has surged by 45 percent, from 147,206 to 213,437.
This widening gap between job creation and labour force growth signals deep structural weaknesses in Botswana’s economy, long criticised for its limited diversification and dependence on capital-intensive sectors.
Beyond the official unemployment rate lies another troubling reality-discouraged job seekers.
“Employment creation has not fully matched the pace of labour force growth,” the report notes. It calls for “employment-intensive growth and targeted labour market interventions.”
These are individuals willing to work but who have stopped actively looking for jobs after repeated failure. While the extended unemployment rate-which includes this group-has dropped from 33.5 percent to 27.3 percent, experts warn this may reflect shrinking optimism rather than real improvement. The report shows that there is a modest silver lining as the proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET) has declined slightly from 39.9 percent to 37.1 percent. The report cautions that the improvement is marginal and does little to offset the broader employment crisis.
The findings pile pressure on government initiatives under frameworks such as the National Development Plan and economic transformation programmes aimed at inclusive growth.
“Employment creation has not fully matched the pace of labour force growth,” the report notes. It calls for “employment-intensive growth and targeted labour market interventions.”
It is understood that with Botswana’s population rising to 2.36 million and more young people entering the job market each year, the urgency is clear:without bold reforms, the country risks entrenching a generation shut out of meaningful work.
