7th February 2021
Botswanaâs rate of job creation during 2020 was as slow as its COVID 19 vaccine roll out plan, figures published by the national data agency â Statistics Botswana suggest.
According to the Statistics Botswanaâs Labour Force Module of the Quarterly Multi Topic Survey (QMTS), formal sector employment in Botswana went down from 492,914 in quarter one of 2020 to 477,716 in the last quarter (Q4: 2020). This reflects a decrease of 3.1 percent. The survey further shows that there has been an increase in the number of people eligible to work, but the economy is adding jobs at a slower pace. The data shows that unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above went up by 1.3 percentage points, from 23.2 percent in quarter one of 2020, to 24.5 percent in quarter four 2020. The data also shows that the employed population (15 years and above) recorded a decline of 2.4 percent between quarters one (1) and four (4) of 2020, from 751,798 to 733,875 person