The larger group is not counted as unemployed
In the second quarter of 2026, Türkiye counted 2,822,000 unemployed people aged 15 to 74, and 5,135,000 who wanted to work and could start within two weeks but had not actively looked for a job. That is 182 for every 100 unemployed, in Eurostat’s seasonally adjusted figures, published on 10 September 2026.
The second group has been the larger in every quarter since the third quarter of 2023, twelve in a row. From the start of the current series in the first quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2023, the unemployed outnumbered it every quarter. Between the second quarters of 2023 and 2026, the unemployed fell by 560,000 and those available but not looking rose by 2,010,000.
Part-time workers who want more hours rose too, from 778,000 to 1,900,000 over the same three years. With them and the 168,000 who looked for work but could not start soon, Eurostat’s measure of labour market slack reached 10,024,000, the highest since the series began in 2021.
| Group | Q2 2023 | Q2 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployed | 3,382,000 | 2,822,000 | -560,000 |
| Available, not looking | 3,125,000 | 5,135,000 | +2,010,000 |
| Part-time, want more hours | 778,000 | 1,900,000 | +1,122,000 |
| Looking, not available | 126,000 | 168,000 | +42,000 |
| Labour market slack | 7,409,000 | 10,024,000 | +2,615,000 |
What each group counts
Unemployed means the ILO definition: without work, available to start within two weeks, and actively looking for work in the past four weeks. Someone who wants a job and could start but did not actively look is not unemployed, and is not in the labour force at all.
Those available but not looking are the people the unemployment count leaves out by design. This table does not record why they did not actively look, so they cannot all be called discouraged.
Each count is an estimate from a survey of households, seasonally adjusted, for people aged 15 to 74. Eurostat publishes it from the Labour Force Survey of TurkStat, Türkiye’s statistical office.
- UNEMPLOYED: without work, available to start within two weeks, and actively looked for work in the past four weeks, the ILO definition. This is the group the unemployment rate counts.
- AVAILABLE BUT NOT LOOKING: want to work and could start within two weeks, but did not actively look for work in the past four weeks; this includes people who searched only passively. They are outside the labour force, and so outside the unemployment rate.
- THE REST OF SLACK: part-time workers who want more hours and are available for them, and people who looked for work but could not start within two weeks. With the first two groups they make up labour market slack.
So 2,822,000 unemployed is not everyone who wants a job: another 5,135,000 wanted one and could start, but had not actively looked, and the unemployment figure leaves them out by definition.
Four groups, one definition each, and a reading that merges them says what the source does not.
Women first, then men
Among women, those available but not looking have outnumbered the unemployed in every quarter since the series began in 2021. In the second quarter of 2026 there were 3,241,000 of them against 1,238,000 unemployed women, 262 for every 100.
Among men it has been so only since the fourth quarter of 2024. In the second quarter of 2026, 1,894,000 men were available but not looking, against 1,584,000 unemployed men, 120 for every 100.
Both groups grew: since the second quarter of 2023, by 1,361,000 among women and by 649,000 among men. Over the same three years the figure for all adults rose from 92 to 182 for every 100 unemployed.
| Q2 of | Unemployed | Available, not looking | Per 100 | Women, per 100 | Men, per 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4,004,000 | 3,319,000 | 83 | 123 | 58 |
| 2022 | 3,655,000 | 2,832,000 | 77 | 109 | 54 |
| 2023 | 3,382,000 | 3,125,000 | 92 | 118 | 70 |
| 2024 | 3,128,000 | 3,899,000 | 125 | 170 | 87 |
| 2025 | 3,058,000 | 4,969,000 | 162 | 219 | 114 |
| 2026 | 2,822,000 | 5,135,000 | 182 | 262 | 120 |
What these figures do not say
They do not say why. Nothing here measures inflation, interest rates, the minimum wage, the 2023 earthquakes or migration, and no policy is assessed.
They do not say that anyone has given up, or that the unemployment rate is wrong: the ILO definition counts what it says it counts. Nor is this TurkStat’s own measure of labour underutilisation, which uses a different definition.
They cover Türkiye as a whole, not any province, and say nothing about pay or about any other country. None of this is a forecast, and the next quarter may revise the picture.
