Türkiye's unemployment rate drops to 7.9% in Q2

Türkiye's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped by 0.3 percentage points to 7.9% in the second quarter of 2026, official data showed Wednesday.

The number of unemployed people aged 15 and above in the country fell by 84,000 quarter-on-quarter to 2.8 million in the April-June period, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced Wednesday.

Unemployment stood at 6.7% for men and 10.3% for women as of the end of the second quarter.

The employment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points from the previous quarter to 48.5% as the number of employed people rose by 155,000 to 32.48 million.

Labor force participation stood at 52.7% as the total labor force expanded by 71,000 to 35.28 million people.

Youth unemployment among those aged 15 to 24 dropped 1.0 percentage point to 13.9%, standing at 11.0% for young men and 19.3% for young women.

By sector, employment grew by 240,000 in services, 25,000 in construction and 10,000 in agriculture, while industrial employment fell by 121,000.

Services accounted for the largest share of overall employment at 59.8%, followed by industry at 19.7%, agriculture at 13.7% and construction at 6.8%.

The composite rate of labor underutilization, which measures labor market slack, eased 0.2 percentage points to 29.9% in the second quarter.

Mehmet Simsek, Türkiye's treasury and finance minister, said that in sectors excluding agriculture, the average informal employment rate over the past year stood at 15.7%, well below the historical average.

The increase in formal employment, which provides social security for workers, also yields significant gains for public finances, he underlined.

"We are continuing our policies that strengthen human capital, support employment, and increase labor force participation," he added.