Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa 2023

South Africa, 2023

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Reference ID

ZAF_2023_LMDSA_v01_M

Producer(s)

Statistics South Africa

Collection(s)

DataFirst , University of Cape Town, South Africa

Metadata

Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON

Study website

Created on

Aug 11, 2025

Last modified

Aug 11, 2025

Page views

2571

Downloads

131

Identification

Survey ID number

ZAF_2023_LMDSA_v01_M

Title

Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa 2023

Abbreviation or Acronym

LMDSA 2023

Country/Economy

Name	Country code
South Africa	ZAF

Study type

Labour Force Survey

Abstract

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) is a household-based sample survey conducted by Statistics South Africa that collects data on the labour market activities of individuals aged 15 years or older who live in South Africa. Since 2008, Statistics SA have produced an annual dataset based on the QLFS data, Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa (LMDSA). The LMDSA is constructed using data from all all four QLFS in the year. The data also includes a number of variables (including income) that are not available in any of the QLFS datasets from 2010.

Kind of Data

Survey data

Unit of Analysis

Individuals

Version

Version Description

Version 01: Edited, anonymised dataset for public distribution

Version Date

2024

Scope

Notes

Individuals: labour market activity, labour preferences, labour market history, demographic characteristics, marital status, employment status, education, grants, tax, income.

Coverage

Geographic Coverage

National coverage

Geographic Unit

The lowest level of geographic aggregation is Province.

Universe

The QLFS sample covers the non-institutional population except for those in workers' hostels. However, persons living in private dwelling units within institutions are enumerated. For example, within a school compound, one would enumerate the schoolmaster's house and teachers' accommodation because these are private dwellings. Students living in a dormitory or school compound are excluded.

Producers and sponsors

Primary investigators

Name	Affiliation
Statistics South Africa	Government of South Africa

Sampling

Sampling Procedure

Information on sampling is available in the LMDSA metadata document provided by Statistics SA and made available with the data

Weighting

Information on survey weights is available in the LMDSA metadata document provided by Statistics SA and made available with the data

Data collection

Dates of Data Collection

Start	End
2023-01	2023-12

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview

Supervision

Statistics South Africa collects data under the South African Statistics Act of 1999.

Data Access

Access authority

Name	Affiliation	URL	Email
DataFirst	University of Cape Town	support.data1st.org	datafirst-support@uct.ac.za

Access conditions

Public access data for use under a Creative Commons CC-BY (Attribution-only) License

Citation requirements

Statistics South Africa. Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa 2023 [dataset]. Version 1. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa [producer], 2024. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/0hyg-ff51

Metadata production

DDI Document ID

DDI_ZAF_2023_LMDSA_v01_M

Producers

Name	Abbreviation	Affiliation	Role
DataFirst		University of Cape Town	Metadata producer
Development Data Group	DECDG	The World Bank	Metadata adapted for World Bank Microdata Library

Date of Metadata Production

2025-08-06

Metadata version

DDI Document version

Identical to a metadata (zaf-statssa-lmdsa-2023-v1) published on DataFirst microdata repository (https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/catalog). Some of the metadata fields have been edited.

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