Türkiye outperforms 9 EU countries with declining youth unemployment

By Zeynep Duyar and Seda Tolmac

In 2023, Türkiye saw its lowest youth unemployment in the last decade with 17.4% and finished out the year with a better performance than nine EU countries.

The number of unemployed people in Türkiye last year dropped by 318,000 people compared to the same period of the previous year to 3.26 million; unemployment fell one percentage point to 9.4%, according to Turkish Statistical Institute data on Monday.

In 2023, the youth unemployment rate, which covers the 15-24 age group, dropped 2 percentage points to 17.4% – its lowest level in a decade.

The EU average for youth unemployment was 14.5% and the eurozone average was 14.4%.

Türkiye’s youth unemployment rate was better than those of Spain, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Romania, Portugal, Slovakia, Croatia, and Luxembourg.

The countries with the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe last year were Spain with 28.5% and Greece with 26.7%.

The youth unemployment rate was 22.7% in Italy, 22.1% in Sweden, 21.8% in Romania, 20.3% in Portugal, 19.8% in Slovakia, 19% in Croatia, and 18.8% in Luxembourg.

Germany, the locomotive of the European economy, had the lowest youth unemployment rate with 5.8%, followed by the Netherlands with 8.2% and the Czech Republic with 8.3%.

- 'We trust our young people'

Nezih Allioglu, head of the Young Enterprise and Governance Association, told Anadolu that the falling youth unemployment rate is an important development for Türkiye.

Stating that steps taken to boost youth employment are bearing fruit, he said: "Ensuring economic stability and increasing employment opportunities for young people draws a positive picture for the future."

He said his group supports all kinds of steps that encourage the participation of young people in the labor market.

"The drop in youth unemployment can’t be measured by numerical data alone,” he said. “We should also increase the quality of jobs, income and career opportunities of our young people.”

"In addition, training a qualified labor force and boosting the competitiveness of the sectors and businesses where young people are employed also carry critical importance for Türkiye. We trust our young people," he underlined.

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul