Only 11% unemployed in Zimbabwe

A survey by Zimbabwe's National Statistical Office (Zimstat) shows a workforce of 7.8m people, out of a total population of 13.4m.

Of this potential workforce, some 750,000 people most of them students are defined as economically inactive, while 800,000 are officially defined as unemployed.

This gives an overall unemployment rate of 11.3%—far below the 85-90% figures widely used in the media.

According to the Zimstat report, 94.5% of the 6.3m people defined as employed are working in the informal economy.

The largest number (4.16m) is made up of smallholder farmers in communal agriculture, followed by 615,000 in trade and commerce.

Some 210,000 are said to have informal jobs in manufacturing, 70,000 in mining, 118,000 in education and 92,000 in transport.

The Zimstat survey finds that as formal-sector employment has fallen, wages have increased.

The average wage has increased by almost one‑third but the vast majority of workers are still earning less than the officially estimated total consumption poverty line for a family.