Türkiye's unemployment narrows to 12-year low in 2024: TurkStat

Türkiye’s unemployment rate in 2024 dropped 0.7 percentage points to a 12-year low of 8.7%, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported on Thursday.

The number of jobless age 15 and over fell by 151,000 from the previous year, bringing the total to 3.11 million.

Unemployment among men dropped from 7.7% in 2023 to 7.1% in 2024, while the rate for women dropped from 12.6% to 11.8%.

Youth unemployment (age 15-24) also showed improvement, falling 1.1 percentage points to 16.3%. The rate for young men stood at 13.1%, while for young women it was 22.3%, down from 14.3% and 23.2% in 2023, respectively.

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Most employment concentrated in services sector

Meanwhile, labor force participation declined 0.9 percentage points to 54.2%. However, the employment rate climbed to 49.5%, up from 48.3% the previous year, reflecting a workforce of 32.62 million people.

Pie charts compare employment distribution by sector in 2023 and 2024, highlighting shifts in industry, construction, and services, while agriculture remains unchanged, accessed on March 21, 2025. (Chart via TurkStat)

The distribution of total employment across sectors is as follows:

• Services: 18.89 million (57.9% of employed persons, an increase of 0.3 percentage points)
• Industry: 6.75 million (20.7% of employed persons, down 0.5 percentage points)
• Agriculture: 4.83 million (14.8% of employed persons, no change)
• Construction: 2.16 million (6.6% of employed persons, an increase of 0.3 percentage points)