New Record in Broad Definition Unemployment: 13.4 Million People Unemployed

DISK-AR's "Outlook of Unemployment" report dated July 2025 has been published. According to the report, the number of broadly defined unemployment reached 13 million 383 thousand, setting a new record. This number surpassed even the peak of the pandemic.

According to the Household Labor Force Survey (HLFS) published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on July 30, 2025, the seasonally adjusted narrow-defined unemployment rate was recorded as 8.6 percent. However, DİSK Research Center (DİSK-AR) announced that the broad-defined unemployment rate reached 32.9 percent in its calculations based on these data.

Women's Unemployment Is Deeper

Another noteworthy data in the report was on female unemployment. The broad-defined female unemployment rate was announced as 41.2 percent. This rate once again revealed the structural problems and social inequalities in women's labor force participation.

1.6 Million More Unemployed

The number of broadly defined unemployed, which was 11 million 740 thousand in June 2024, increased to 13 million 383 thousand in June 2025, an increase of 1 million 643 thousand people. In the same period, the broad-defined unemployment rate increased by 3.7 percentage points from 29.2 percent to 32.9 percent.

85 percent of the unemployed do not receive benefits

DISK-AR also drew attention to the injustice in access to unemployment benefits. According to the report, only 15 percent of the unemployed can benefit from unemployment benefits. A large 85 percent are excluded from social protection.

The Gap Between Narrow and Broad Definition Deepens

According to Turkish Statistical Institute data, the number of narrowly defined unemployed in June 2025 was 3 million 47 thousand, while according to DISK-AR calculations, the number of broadly defined unemployed reached 13 million 383 thousand. This difference reveals that unemployment has become a much bigger problem than the official data suggests.