The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK - TurkStat) has announced the unemployment rate, comprising all those of 15 years of age and over, for November 2025 as 8.6%, which is an increase of 0.1 percentage points on the previous month of October. Total unemployed was given as 3,098 thousand people, an increase of 54 thousand on the previous month. The unemployment rate in November 2025 among the young, which comprises of people aged between 15 and 24, was given as 15.4%, the same as for the previous month. The overall unemployment rate was 8.5% in November 2024.
The number of people in the workforce in November 2025 was 32,737 thousand people, an increase of 75 thousand on the previous month. This labour force total was 49.2% of the total population over 15 years of age, and 0.1 percentage points higher than the figure for the previous month. The number of workers available for work in November 2025 is 35,834 thousand, an increase of 128 thousand and 0.1 percentage points higher than the figure for the previous month, and representing 53.8% 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.