• In 2018, Mpumalanga’s percentage share of the national population of 57.7 million was 7.8%, or 4.5 million.
• In 2018, Mpumalanga’s share of the national household number was 7.9% or 1.29 million.
• In total over the last year, Mpumalanga recorded 2 061 more jobs, however, the province registered a decrease of 9 657 jobs over the last quarter.
• Trade (20.8%) and community services (19.4%) were the two industries that employed the highest number of individuals in Mpumalanga, whereas the utilities industry (2.1%) employed the lowest number.
• Mpumalanga (35.3%), recorded the second highest strict unemployment rate among the nine provinces. The expanded unemployment rate was 43.9% in the third quarter of 2019.
• In the third quarter of 2019, the male unemployment rate was 31.8%, the female unemployment was 39.7% and the youth (15-34 years) unemployment rate was 48.3%.
• By 2018, 7.6% of the people 20 years and older in Mpumalanga had not received any schooling.
• In 2018, Mpumalanga’s Grade 12 pass rate (79.0%) was the fifth highest among the provinces.
• In 2018, Mpumalanga recorded a HDI score of 0.61, an improvement from the relatively low level (0.50) achieved in 1996.
• The poorest 40% of households in Mpumalanga earned 7.8% of income in 2018, which was higher (better) than the national figure of 6.7% for 2018, but lower than the 9.0% share achieved in 1996.
• In 2018, 47.1% or approximately 2.1 million of Mpumalanga population lived below the lower-bound poverty line of R767 per month.
• A major share of households (49.3%) in Mpumalanga reported expenditure of less than R2 500 per month in 2018.
• Mpumalanga’s contribution to the national economy was the fifth largest with a share of 7.5% (current prices) in 2017.
• Mpumalanga’s average annual GDP growth of 0.6% per annum between 2014 and 2017 was the second lowest.
• The forecasted annual growth rates for South Africa and Mpumalanga is projected to remain low and respectively average 1.5% and 1.3% per annum up to 2023.
• A structural model of Mpumalanga’s economy estimates that the provincial economic growth was 0.2% in 2018 compared with 0.8% growth nationally.
• In 2017, the three largest contributors to the provincial economy were mining (25.5%), community services (16.1%) and trade (14.8%).
• The October 2019 inflation measurement in Mpumalanga of 3.3% was lower than the national level of 3.7% and below the upper band of the inflation target zone for the thirty-third month in succession.
• In 2018, tourism spending in Mpumalanga expressed as a percentage of the provincial GDP was equal to 7.9% of GDP.

Source: Socio-Economic Review & Outlook of Mpumalanga, December 2019