One in every three people is living with unemployment
According to the labour force data for March, real unemployment has approached 12 million, pushing towards a record high. One in every three people of working age is unemployed, and 5.3 million people have lost hope of finding a job.
Economy Service
In Turkey, millions have lost hope of finding a job, and one in every three people of working age is unemployed. While the government tries to paint a rosy picture, the unemployment rate continues to head towards a record high.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) has released the labour force statistics for March. The narrowly defined unemployment rate, which reflects official unemployment, dropped to 7.9% in March. However, TÜİK, whose data has drawn criticism for losing credibility, claimed that only 7.9% of the labour force is unemployed, despite the deepening economic crisis and shrinking economy.
In reality, the broadly defined unemployment rate, which reflects the true extent of unemployment, continues to climb. In March, broad unemployment was calculated at 28.8%. The report titled The Outlook of Unemployment, prepared by the DİSK Research Centre (DİSK-AR) based on TÜİK data, revealed the real scale of unemployment.
5.3 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE LOST HOPE
In March, the number of unemployed in the country neared 12 million. The gap between official figures and the actual situation continues to widen. The real number of unemployed, calculated at a rate of 28.8%, rose to 11.73 million people. This means that one in every three people who are able to work is unemployed.
The number of unemployed people has increased by 2.18 million in the past year and by 3.41 million over the past two years. Broad unemployment reached its fourth-highest level in the last 134 months, since 2014. Real unemployment, which stood at 1.8 million last June, remained near record levels this month as well. Unemployment rates were last this high during the pandemic period.
The number of citizens not counted as unemployed by TÜİK because they have given up looking for work has also increased. Compared to the previous month, the number of people who stopped searching for a job rose by around 300,000, reaching approximately 5.3 million as of March.
NOT FLEXIBLE, BUT SECURE EMPLOYMENT
Once again, women's unemployment was the highest unemployment category this month. Broadly defined unemployment was calculated at 38.2% for women and 23.1% for men. The flexible working models promoted by the AKP government especially following its declaration of 2025 as the "Year of the Family" aimed to confine women to the home and expand precarious models of exploitation. However, these models have failed to provide a solution to unemployment.
The number of people in time-related underemployment, those who are not working full-time but are willing to switch to full-time work as soon as they find it reached 3.53 million in March. In March 2024, this number was 2.689 million. This indicates that citizens employed in flexible working arrangements actually want full-time and secure employment.
THE MINISTER IS UNAWARE OF THE REAL FIGURES
The government, ignoring real unemployment, took pride in narrowly defined rates. Minister of Labour and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan shared on his social media account: "The unemployment rate, which has dropped to its lowest level in the past 25 years, is in line with our Medium-Term Programme (OVP) targets. We will continue to work diligently to support access to the labour market and decent employment conditions for all groups requiring special policies, especially young people, women, and citizens with disabilities." However, Minister Işıkhan made no mention of real unemployment figures in his statement.
Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled Her 3 kişiden biri işsizlikle yaşıyor, published in BirGün newspaper on April 30, 2025.
