Türkiye’s unemployment rate decreased to a historic low of 7.7 percent in December, the country’s statistical authority said.
This was the lowest rate on record, which began in January 2005.
The rate was down from November's 8.5 percent, according to data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Thursday.
The number of unemployed people aged 15 and over was down by 286,000 to 2.73 million in December.
Joblessness stood at 6.3 percent among men and 10.5 percent among women in the same period.
Meanwhile, employment also declined, with 42,000 fewer people working, bringing the total number of employed to 32.68 million.
The overall employment rate was down to 49.1 percent, including 66.8 percent for men and 32.7 percent for women.
The labour force also decreased by 328,000 to 35.42 million, with the participation rate at 53.2 percent.
Sustainable, employment-supportive growth path
Youth unemployment – covering those aged 15 to 24 – fell 1.1 percentage points from November to 14.1 percent in December. It was 12 percent for men and 18.2 percent for women.
In 2025 as a whole, Türkiye's unemployment rate stood at around 8.3 percent on average.
Commenting on the data, Türkiye's Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said thanks to the structural steps taken to support production, employment, investment, and exports, simultaneously with the disinflation process they are resolutely pursuing, the labour market continues to show a strong performance.
He said on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal that the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since monthly labour force statistics began being released in 2005, and marked its 32nd consecutive month in single digits.
"The decline in risk premium, the improvement in the credit rating outlook, the completion of the exit from the Foreign-Currency-Linked Deposit system, and historically high reserve levels are increasing the resilience of our economy and enhancing its resistance to shocks. Thanks to the achievements we have made in our program, our macroeconomic and financial stability is strengthening, and confidence in our economy is also being reinforced," Yilmaz wrote.
"Thanks to a balanced and stable growth environment, we will increase our investments and employment in the coming period, and by reflecting the lasting increase in prosperity achieved through a sustainable and employment-supportive growth path fairly to all segments of society, we will increase the purchasing power of our citizens," he added.
