Turkey's youth unemployment surges to highest rate in six years

Duvar English

The unemployment rate of Turkey's youth, ages 15 to 24, rose to 25 percent in December of 2019, the highest rate in six years, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said March 10.

"The unemployment rate between ages 15 and 24 has increased by 0.5 percent compared to December 2019 reaching 25 percent, while the employment rate has fallen to 31.9 percent," said TÜİK.

The youth unemployment rate was 26.7 percent in January 2019, the TÜİK data reveal.

The labor force participation rate of this age group, referring to people who are either employed and/or actively looking for employment, has fallen by 0.5 percent to 42.5 percent.

The unemployment rate for ages 15-24 fluctuated between 19.2 percent and 24.5 percent over the past six years, but in 2019 increased from the previous year's record of 24.5 percent.

The youth unemployment rate was 20.2 percent in 2014, fell to 19.2 percent in 2015, rose sharply to 24 percent in 2016, fell to 19.2 percent in 2017 and went back up to 24.5 percent in 2018.

Average unemployment rate surges to record level

The average unemployment rate also rose to a new record in 2019, increasing by 0.2 percent from 2018 to 13.7 percent.

The unemployment rate in December of 2014 was 10.9 percent, 10.8 percent in 2015, 12.7 percent in 2016, 10.4 percent in 2017 and 13.5 percent in 2018.

The unemployment rate in January 2020 was 14.7 percent, one percentage point more than the December rate in the TÜİK data.