Survey of Employers and Self-Employed 2023
South Africa, 2023
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zaf-statssa-sese-2023-v1
Survey of Employers and Self-Employed 2023
SESE 2023
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| South Africa | zaf |
Survey of Employers and Self-Employed
| Type | Identifier |
|---|---|
| DOI | 10.25828/0nrs-fs10 |
The SESE survey aims to provide information about the characteristics of businesses in the informal sector in South Africa, and provides an understanding of their operation and access to information and services. The information is gathered in surveys with household respondents that identify as being self-employed in the QLFS for the third quarter of the corresponding year.
The main objectives of the SESE are:
- To determine the contribution made by businesses not registered for VAT towards economic growth.
- To collect reliable data about people running businesses not registered for VAT.
- To identify the non-income tax paying and income tax paying businesses within the non-VAT paying businesses.
- To produce comprehensive statistical information about informal sector businesses, at national and provincial levels.
Sample survey data
Individuals, households and establishments.
Version
v1: Edited, anonymised data for public distribution
2026-08-20
Version 1 of the data was downloaded from StatsSA's website on 2026-08-13. The current data has variable and value labels added by DataFirst.
Scope
2023 data collection for the QLFS occurred in September during the middle two weeks of the month throughout the quarter, while SESE data collection was undertaken in the last week of the month, also throughout the quarter.
Coverage
The survey has national coverage.
The lowest level of geographic aggregation covered by the data is province and metropolitan municipality.
The survey covered non-VAT registered businesses in South Africa.
| West | East | South | North |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14.062712 | 33.090851 | -35.101934 | -22.105999 |
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Statistics South Africa | Government of South Africa |
Study authorization
1999
| Agency name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Parliament of South Africa | Government of South Africa |
Data collection by South African government departments is authorised by the Statistics Act of 1999 and the Statistics Amendment Act of 2024
Sampling
Currently, there is no sampling frame on which to base weights and raising factors for unregistered businesses in South Africa. Therefore, SESE is based on a household survey, consisting of two stages. The first stage involved identifying individuals who are running businesses based on the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). The second stage involved a follow-up, when the owners of these businesses were interviewed, to determine the nature of their businesses. For each SESE survey, the criterion for inclusion depends on whether or not the business is registered for Value Added Tax (VAT). Only persons who had businesses which were not registered for VAT were included. This methodology was used from 2009 to 2023.
For information on weights refer to the release provided with the data.
survey_instrument
The SESE questionnaire covered background data on the small business (from questions 4 to 16 of the questionnaire) , its site of operation (questions 17 to 25), its business management, operations and finances (questions 26 to 43). Data is also collected on business expenditure and turnover (questions 44 to 52), people employed and labour costs (questions 53 to 60), expenditure on fuels, materials and services (question 61), business capital (questions 62 to 67) and transport (questions 68 to 70).
Data Collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2023-09 | 2023-12 |
Cross-section [cross section]
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Statistics South Africa | Government of South Africa |
A sample for the SESE 2023 was obtained from individuals interviewed in the Quarterly Labour Force survey (3rd quarter QLFS, July–September 2017). The screening process involved identifying those persons operating businesses not registered for VAT. The QLFS was conducted in the middle two weeks of the month throughout the quarter. SESE households were re-visited in the last week of a month, throughout the quarter.
Data appraisal
The 2001 and 2005 datasets only covered those aged 15-64 years, while in 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2023, all persons aged 15 years and above were included. Additionally, there are inconsistencies between 2023 and 2017 in the section of Q61, on monthly expenditure items. The medians in 2023 are significantly lower than reported in 2017. Some records carry a positive wage bill against zero workers. Unpaid worker totals do not add up.
Data Access
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DataFirst | University of Cape Town | http://www.support.data1st.org | support@data1st.org |
Creative Commons Attribution only CC-BY licence.
Statistics South Africa. Survey of Employers and Self-Employed 2023 [dataset]. Version 1. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa [producer], 2026. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/0nrs-fs10
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DataFirst Helpdesk | University of Cape Town | support@data1st.org | http://support.data1st.org/ |
Metadata production
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| DataFirst | University of Cape Town | Metadata producer |
2026-08-20
Metadata version
Version 1