Turkey's unemployment rate reaches pandemic-era levels

The broadly defined number of unemployed people in Turkey has reached 11.5 million in 2024, increasing by approximately 1.8 million in the past year, according to the labor union DİSK. The rates in 2024 approached levels seen during the peak of the pandemic.

Monday February 10 2025 11:34 pm

Duvar English

The broadly defined number of unemployed people reached 11.5 million in December 2024, according to the "Unemployment and Employment Outlook Report" by the Research Center of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK-AR).

The narrow definition of unemployment considers unemployed individuals who actively searched for work in a specific time frame while broader definition expands this by including those who desired employment but did not actively seek it during the reference period.

The broadly defined unemployment rate stood at 28.2% in December 2024, while it remained close to pandemic-era levels.

Approximately five million people were ready to work but have given up searching for a job, according to the union.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) published the results of its December 2024 Household Labor Force Survey on Feb.10, 2025. The seasonally adjusted narrowly defined unemployment rate was recorded at 8.5 percent, while the seasonally adjusted broadly defined unemployment rate (labor underutilization) was calculated at 28.2 percent.

The table from TÜİK's report shows seasonally adjusted supplementary labour force indicators, December 2022 - December 2024 (%).

According to TÜİK, the seasonally adjusted number of unemployed people aged 15 and above in Turkey stood at 3.026 million in December 2024.

In its report, DİSK-AR stated, "The gap between broadly defined unemployment and narrowly defined unemployment is widening. Broadly defined unemployment has returned to the levels experienced during the peak of the pandemic and reached its highest level since January 2021 which was 29 percent.”

DİSK-AR emphasized that the data published by TÜİK also indicated a continued increase in broadly defined unemployment (underutilized labor force) and stated that the number of broadly defined unemployed people has risen by 1.8 million over the past year.

"The rise in broadly defined unemployment is due to the increase in the number of time-related underemployment, discouraged job seekers, those not actively seeking work but ready to work, and potential labor force participants who are looking for a job but are not immediately available to start working," the report stated.

According to TÜİK data, female unemployment remained significantly higher than male unemployment. In December 2024, the seasonally adjusted narrow-defined unemployment rate was 6.9% for men and 11.4% for women. The broadly defined unemployment rate stood at 22.8% for men and 37.2% for women, marking a 14.4 percentage point gap between the two.

As of December 2024, seasonally adjusted data showed that the highest unemployment category was broadly defined female unemployment at 37.2%, with a 19.7 percentage point difference between narrow and broad unemployment rates.

The report also highlighted the continued rise in time-related underemployment and noted that the potential labor force increased by nearly one million over the past year, rising from 3.9 million to 4.9 million.

Only about two out of every 10 unemployed individuals qualified for unemployment benefits in this period.