The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK - TurkStat) has announced the unemployment rate, comprising all those of 15 years of age and over, for September 2023 as 9.1%, which is a decrease of 0.1 percentage points on the previous month of August 2023. Total unemployed was given as 3,168 thousand people, a decrease of 46 thousand on the previous month. The unemployment rate in September 2023 among the young, which comprises of people aged between 15 and 24, was given as 16.7%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points on the previous month. The overall unemployment rate was 10.1% in September 2022.
The number of people in the workforce in September 2023 was 31,686 thousand people, a decrease of 59 thousand on the previous month. This labour force total was 48.3% of the total population over 15 years of age, a decrease of 0.2% on the previous month. The number of workers available for work in September 2023 is 34,854 thousand, a decrease of 105 thousand and 0.2 percentage points on the figure for the previous month, representing 53.2% of the total population over 15 years of age.
There is much criticism of TurkStat’s calculation of the employment statistics. Suspicion of government interference and past revisions of calculation methods have only made comparative studies harder and only added to the scepticism about the accuracy of these official statistics.