Over 50 pct of Turkish youth express happiness: Data

ANKARA

Some 15 percent of Türkiye’s population was made up of young people in the 15-24 age group in 2023, with more than half of its 12.8 million young people expressing satisfaction with their lives, shows data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Recent statistics on May 17 revealed that Türkiye’s youth population ratio of 15.1 percent surpassed that of the 27 European Union member states last year.

According to the survey, 54 percent of the young population aged 18-24 stated that they feel happy, while 33.3 percent indicated feeling neither happy nor unhappy, and 12.7 percent expressed feeling unhappy.

Notably, the southeastern province of Hakkari emerged with the highest youth ratio at 21.5 percent, contrasted by the northwestern city of Balıkesir with the lowest at 12.1 percent.

Furthermore, the proportion of young individuals neither actively engaged in education nor employed stood at 22.5 percent, the institute said.

Among the employed youth, 55.3 percent were situated in the service sector, with 75.2 percent of youth affirming contentment with their occupation, while 47.8 percent expressed satisfaction with their earnings.

Moreover, 65.5 percent of young individuals conveyed contentment with their educational experiences. The survey also revealed a high internet usage rate among youth, reaching 97.5% percent.

Analysis of body mass index, utilizing height and weight data, indicated a rise in obesity among youth, coinciding with a decrease in the frequency of fruit consumption, as per the statistical institute's observations.