South Africa's unemployment rate rose to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2023 from 32.7% in the final quarter of last year, data showed on Tuesday.

Statistics South Africa said the number of unemployed people totalled 7.933 million in the January-March period, from 7.753 million people in the last three months of 2022.

According to the expanded definition of unemployment which includes those discouraged from seeking work, 42.4% were without work compared to 42.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022.