Turkey’s unemployment rate down in 2021

ANKARA

The annualized unemployment rate in Turkey decreased by 1.1 percentage points to 12 percent in 2021, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) yesterday.

The number of unemployed persons – aged 15 years old and over – dropped by 121,000 to 3.9 million in 2021 compared to 2020, TÜİK said.

The unemployment rate was 10.7 percent for men and 14.7 percent for women, it added.

TÜİK also said that the number of employed persons was 28.8 million with a 2.1 million increase and the employment rate was 45.2 percent, recording a 2.5 percentage point increase on an annual basis in 2021.

The agency said that the labor force was 32.7 million with a 1.98 million increase and the labor force participation rate stood at 51.4 percent with a 2.3 percentage point increase in 2021 compared to the previous year.

The unemployment rate was 11.4 percent in January without any change compared to the previous month.

In January, the rate of composite measure of labor underutilization, which consists of time-related underemployment, potential labour force and unemployment, was 22.9 percent with a 0.1 percentage point increase compared to the previous month.