Unemployment has decreased in Turkey!

According to the “Labor Force Statistics 2021” data of the Turkish Statistical Institute, the number of unemployed across the country decreased by 121 thousand people last year compared to 2020 and became 3 million 919 thousand people.

Unemployment rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points to 12 percent last year compared to the previous year. In 2020, the unemployment rate was 13.1 percent, and the number of unemployed was announced as 4 million 40 thousand people.

In addition, new regulations were introduced in the Household Labor Force Survey in order to comply with the decisions of the 19th Conference of Labor Statisticians of the International Labor Organization and the relevant EU regulation, simultaneously with the European Union (EU) countries as of 2021. In this context, in order to be comparable to 2021, the 2020 results were revised for indicators that could be calculated according to new definitions and concepts, and the relevant statistical tables were presented to the public.

The employment rate increased by 2.5 points to 45.2 percent.

According to the “Labor Force Statistics” data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) for 2021, the unemployment rate was estimated as 10.7 percent for men and 14.7 percent for women.

The youth unemployment rate, which includes the 15-24 age group, decreased by 2.3 points in 2021 compared to the previous year and became 22.6 percent. The unemployment rate in this age group was calculated as 19.4 percent for men and 28.7 percent for women.

In this period, the number of employed persons increased by 2 million 102 thousand persons and became 28 million 797 thousand persons, and the employment rate increased by 2.5 points to 45.2 percent. This rate was determined as 62.8 percent for men and 28 percent for women.

Last year, 4 million 948 thousand people were employed in the agricultural sector, 6 million 143 thousand people in the industrial sector, 1 million 777 thousand people in the construction sector, and 15 million 928 thousand people in the service sector. Compared to the previous year, the number of employed persons increased by 211 thousand in the agricultural sector, 661 thousand in the industrial sector, 231 thousand in the construction sector and 998 thousand in the service sector.

17.2 percent of those employed were in agriculture, 21.3% in industry, 6.2 percent in construction and 55.3 percent in the service sector. Compared to the previous year, the share of the industrial sector and the construction sector increased by 0.8 points and the share of the construction sector in employment increased by 0.4 points, while the share of the agricultural sector decreased by 0.5 points and the share of the services sector decreased by 0.6 points.

The workforce was 32 million 716 thousand people last year, and the labor force participation rate was 51.4%. The labor force participation rate was 70.3 percent for men and 32.8 percent for women.

The rate of underemployment due to time, potential workforce and the unemployed, decreased by 1 percentage point in 2021 compared to the previous year and became 24.4%. While the combined rate of time-related underemployment and the unemployed was 16.8 percent, the combined rate of the unemployed and potential workforce was 20 percent.