Türkiye’s unemployment rate increased to 8.1% in January from 7.8% the previous month, the country’s statistical authority said Friday.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported that the number of unemployed people aged 15 and over rose by 73,000 to 2.82 million.

Unemployment stood at 6.6% among men and 11% among women in January.

Meanwhile, employment also declined, with 516,000 fewer people working, bringing the total number of employed to 32.95 million. The overall employment rate was 47.9%, including 65.3% for men and 30.9% for women.

The labor force decreased by 443,000 to 33.77 million, with the participation rate at 52.1%.

Youth unemployment - covering those aged 15 to 24 - edged up by 0.1 percentage points from December 2025 to 14.3% in January. It was 11.9% for men and 19% for women.