One third of Turkish youth want to live abroad, survey finds

Duvar English

Some 31 percent of Turkish young people want to settle abroad, with Germany taking the lead, according to a recent survey conducted by Habitat Association, a non-governmental organization that works in the field of sustainable development.

This marked a six percent increase compared to the survey results of last year.

The most recent survey was conducted between Oct. 2 – Nov. 14, 2020 in Turkey's 16 provinces with 1,230 people aged between 18-30 years old.

Among the reasons why they wanted to live abroad, most of the participants cited “better job opportunities.”

Some 58 percent of survey participants said they were “pleased with their lives,” marking a 13 percent decrease compared to the 2017 survey.

Only 57 percent of young people are “hopeful about the future,” marking a 10 percent decrease compared to 2017, the survey found. Young people looking for a job were the least hopeful about the future, marking a 42 percent.

Some 44 percent of participants said they had a job, with this ratio being 56 percent for men and 32 percent for women.

Some 21 percent of male participants are looking for a job, 17 percent are students, and the rest 6 percent are neither in the employment market nor attending a university.

As for female participants, 15 percent are looking for a job, 24 percent are students, and the rest 29 percent are neither in the employment market nor attending a university.

Some 61 percent of participants who said it is difficult to find a job in Turkey highlighted “the lack of sufficient job opportunities.”

A total of 330,289 people left Turkey to live abroad in 2019, marking an increase of 2 percent compared to the previous year. Some 40.8 percent of those who emigrated from Turkey were between the ages of 20-34, according to previously released data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).