By Tuba Sahin and Dilara Zengin
ISTANBUL (AA) - The number of women in employment in Turkey rose 77 percent between 2007 and 2015, the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation said Wednesday.
The increase put the country at the top of a list of 63 nations that also saw a rise in female employment over the same period, the confederation reported.
“Turkey created almost 2.2 million new jobs for women between 2007 and 2015,” according to the Women in Business Life report.
More than 5.3 million new jobs were created in Turkey from 2007 to 2015 and 40 percent of these went to women, the report added.
“In particular, the increased level of education was the most important factor in this result,” the report said. “The schooling rate of girls in higher education reached to 41.1 percent in 2015, from 18.7 percent in 2007.”
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), 8 million women were in employment in 2015, accounting for around 32 percent of workers.
More than two-thirds -- 72 percent -- of female university graduates found employment in 2015 while 41 percent of vocational high school graduates and 33 percent of high school graduates were in work.
Turkey’s eastern and southeastern provinces such as Bingol, Kilis, Sanliurfa and Sirnak saw the largest rise, due to government incentives, the report said.
The proportion of female employers rose to 8 percent in 2015 from 6 percent in 2007. The average figure for European countries was 25 percent.
Of the 63 countries identified in the report, Israel had the second-highest increase in female employment -- a 37 percent rise -- followed by the Philippines on 31 percent.