Skip to content
Insights Centre
Indicators · Industries and economic structure

Employment in industry

Share of employed people working in mining, manufacturing, construction and utilities (ILO modelled estimates).

Why it matters

Compared with industry's share of output, it shows how productive industrial jobs are and how much room there is to add jobs.

Read with care

Modelled by the ILO; informal work is hard to count.

Source

World Bank

% of employment. 53 African countries, 1991 to 2025.

Industry jobs: highest in Lesotho, lowest in Mozambique

Employment in industry, % of employment. Latest year available, 2025. 15 of 16 countries have data.

10%
20%
30%
No data
Loading map…
Source: World Bank· Get the data (Professional)·dotzedw Insights Centre

Ranked: industry jobsiWhy it mattersCompared with industry's share of output, it shows how productive industrial jobs are and how much room there is to add jobs.

Click a country to highlight it.

0%10%20%30%Lesotho33.0%Eswatini26.7%South Africa20.8%Mauritius20.6%Namibia16.5%Botswana15.8%Comoros14.8%Zimbabwe11.5%Zambia10.3%Madagascar9.9%Tanzania8.1%DRC8.0%Malawi7.3%Angola7.2%Mozambique6.4%median 11.5%
dotzedw Insights Centre
How spread out SADC is
Median 11.5%Lowest: Mozambique 6.4%Highest: Lesotho 33.0%

Over time

Ten years of history for every indicator is free with a Reader account

Sign up with your email address on dotzedw.com and you come straight back to this page. Your free account also brings the weekly SADC Deals Brief and five full deal records a month. Already have an account? Sign in.

Employment in industry against income per person

Each bubble is a SADC country, sized by population. Dashed lines mark the SADC medians. Countries far from the pattern are worth a closer look.

0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%20.0%25.0%30.0%35.0%$1,000$3,000$10kGDP per person, US$ (log scale)Industry jobsDRCTanzaniaSouth AfricaAngolaMozambiqueMadagascarZimbabweNamibia
Source: World Bank, World Bank·dotzedw Insights Centre

Table

The same figures as the map, for screen readers and copying.
RankCountryValueYearFive-year changeGradeDetails
1Lesotho33.0%2025down 0.2 points since 2020A
2Eswatini26.7%2025up 7.7 points since 2020A
3South Africa20.8%2025down 0.4 points since 2020A
4Mauritius20.6%2025down 2.8 points since 2020A
5Namibia16.5%2025up 0.5 points since 2020A
6Botswana15.8%2025up 0.7 points since 2020A
7Comoros14.8%2025down 0.3 points since 2020A
8Zimbabwe11.5%2025down 0.8 points since 2020A
9Zambia10.3%2025up 1.6 point since 2020A
10Madagascar9.9%2025up 0.3 points since 2020A
11Tanzania8.1%2025little changed since 2020A
12DRC8.0%2025little changed since 2020A
13Malawi7.3%2025little changed since 2020A
14Angola7.2%2025up 1.0 point since 2020A
15Mozambique6.4%2025down 0.3 points since 2020A
–SeychellesNo recent data