Türkiye’s unemployment rate declined to its lowest level in 21 years, falling to 8.3 percent in 2025, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

The agency announced annual labor force statistics, showing that the number of unemployed people aged 15 and over decreased by 147,000 year-on-year to 2.966 million in 2025. The unemployment rate dropped by 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The unemployment rate stood at 6.8 percent for men and 11.3 percent for women.

The number of employed people declined slightly by 54,000 to 32.566 million in 2025, while the employment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 49.0 percent.

By gender, the employment rate was recorded at 66.4 percent for men and 32.1 percent for women.

The labor force decreased by 200,000 to 35.533 million, with the labor force participation rate falling by 0.7 percentage points to 53.5 percent. Participation stood at 71.3 percent for men and 36.2 percent for women.

Among the youth population aged 15–24, the unemployment rate decreased by 1 percentage point to 15.3 percent in 2025. In this age group, the rate was estimated at 11.7 percent for men and 22.1 percent for women.

Of those employed, 14.0 percent worked in agriculture, 20.2 percent in industry, 6.8 percent in construction, and 59.0 percent in the services sector.

Compared to the previous year, the share of the services and construction sectors increased by 1.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively, while agriculture and industry declined by 0.8 and 0.5 percentage points.

In absolute terms, 4.56 million people were employed in agriculture, 6.578 million in industry, 2.224 million in construction, and 19.204 million in services.

The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Ardahan at 4.0 percent, while the highest rate was seen in Hakkari at 13.8 percent.

Artvin recorded the highest employment rate at 58.1 percent and the highest labor force participation rate at 61.3 percent. Hakkari had the lowest figures in both categories, with an employment rate of 32.9 percent and a participation rate of 38.1 percent.

The data highlights both improvements in overall unemployment and continued regional and gender disparities across Türkiye. (ILKHA)