TÜİK Announces: Unemployment Rate Holds Steady at 8.5%, While Sectoral Shifts Mark Employment Trends

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) has published its labor force statistics for the 3rd quarter of 2025. According to the released data, the unemployment rate remained stable at 8.5%, despite signs of economic recovery in the Turkish economy. However, detailed figures reveal significant disparities in the labor market based on gender and sectoral distribution.

Jobless Count Drops, Total Employment Rises

TÜİK data indicates that the number of unemployed individuals decreased by 26 thousand compared to the previous quarter, falling to 3 million 10 thousand. This decline is seen as a reflection of a positive market trend, even though the overall unemployment rate held steady.

Furthermore, the number of employed persons continued its upward trajectory, increasing by 65 thousand from the previous quarter to reach 32 million 558 thousand. This expansion in employment volume suggests ongoing economic activity. However, the employment rate remained unchanged at 49.0%.

👩‍💻 Critical Differences Across Gender and Age Groups

The sharpest disparities in the labor market were observed specifically in gender and age groups:

• Unemployment by Gender: The unemployment rate for men was determined to be 7.0%, while the rate for women was significantly higher at 11.2%, a difference of approximately 4 percentage points.

• Labor Force Participation: Although the total labor force size reached 35 million 568 thousand people, the labor force participation rate saw a slight decrease to 53.5%. This rate was 71.2% for men but only 36.2% for women, indicating persistent challenges to female participation in the labor market.

• Youth Unemployment: The unemployment rate for the youth population (aged 15–24) saw a positive decline to 15.3%. Yet, the gender gap remains stark within this group: male youth unemployment stood at 11.7%, while female youth unemployment remained at the high level of 21.8%.

🏗️ Sectoral Dynamics: Industry Contracts, Services Expand

Seasonally adjusted data clearly highlighted the dynamism in the sectoral distribution of employment:

• Growing Sectors: The Services sector generated the most employment with an increase of 159 thousand people, followed by Construction with 40 thousand people, and Agriculture with 13 thousand people.

• Contracting Sector: The Industry sector recorded a significant reduction of 147 thousand people compared to the previous quarter.

The sectoral distribution of the employed population was predominantly concentrated in Services (59.3%) and Industry (19.8%). Agriculture (14%) and Construction (7%) accounted for the remaining shares.

Finally, the average weekly actual working hours increased by 0.4 hours, reaching 42.5 hours. This increase suggests a slight rise in the average workload of employees.

Source: BHA