Labour Statistics

Unemployment rate is 17.7 percent (Statistics Office,Botswana.)
59.3 % of households receive income from wage employment (source: Botswana Core Welfare Indicator Survey 2009/10).
Informal sector businesses in Botswana is estimated at 40,421 (source: 2007 Informal Sector Survey).
Formal Sector Employment Survey (Dec 2019) estimated average earnings for all employees at P6,533 at Dec 2018.(source: Formal Sector Employment Survey, Stats Brief Dec 2018)

 

2017 Minimum Wage Rates (source: Ministry of Labour):

 

Trade /industry

BASIC MINIMUM WAGE

1.

Building, Construction, Exploration and Quarry Industries

 P6.77 per hour

2

Wholesale Distributive Trade

 P6.77 per hour

3

Manufacturing, Service and Repair Trades

 P6.77 per hour

4.

Hotel, Catering and Entertainment Trades

 P6.77 per hour

5

Garage, Motor Trade and Road Transport

 P6.77 per hour

6.

Retail Distributive Trade

 P6.01 per hour

7.

 Security Guards employed by security companies

P6.77 per hour

8.

Domestic Service Sector

 P1000.00 per month

9.

Agricultural Sector

 P1000.00 per month

 

 

 

 

 

Unemployment Rate Trends

As it can be seen from figure 2 below, unemployment rate trends from 2001 to 2015/6 estimated from censuses and surveys show that the highest unemployment rates were estimated from the Botswana Aids Impact Surveys (BAIS III and II) of 2008 and 2004, at 26.2 and 24.6 percent, respectively. Although there is an observable downward trend in the unemployment rate in the current period, the unemployment rate is still high for a middle income country.