Türkiye's Unemployment Rate Dropped to a Historic Low of 7.7% in December, According to Official Data Released by the Country's Statistical Authority on Thursday.

The rate was down 0.8 percentage points from November's 8.5%, according to data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and was the lowest rate since the records began in January 2005, The Caspian Post reports, citing Turkish media.

The number of unemployed people aged 15 and over was down by 286,000 to 2.73 million in December, according to data.

The rate was estimated at 6.3% among men and 10.5% 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 at 49.1%, including 66.8% for men and 31.7% for women.

The labor force also decreased by 328,000 to 35.42 million, with the participation rate at 53.2%.

Youth unemployment, covering those aged 15 to 24, fell 1.1 percentage points from November to 14.1% in December. It was 12% for men and 18.2% for women.

In 2025 as a whole, Türkiye's unemployment rate stood at around 8.3% on average.

Economic confidence unchanged

Separate data released by the statistics office showed on Thursday that economic confidence in the country was at 99.4 points in January, unchanged from the previous month.

In January, three subindices posted increases, while two saw declines, TurkStat reported.

The construction confidence index gained 1.5% on a monthly basis, and the services confidence index rose 1.1% in January.

The consumer confidence index also gained 0.3% month-on-month in January.

On the other hand, the retail trade confidence index dropped 2.4% and the real sector confidence index lost 0.7%.

The economic confidence index, a key indicator of the overall economic situation, hovers between zero and 200. A reading above 100 indicates optimism about the overall economic outlook, while a value below 100 reflects a more pessimistic assessment.