Paid employee numbers rise 1.2 percent in July

ANKARA

The number of paid employees in Türkiye rose by 1.2 percent in July 2025 compared with the same month last year, reaching 16.1 million, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) published on Sept. 16.

The increase was driven mainly by growth in the construction and trade-services sectors. Construction recorded the highest annual growth rate at 7.7 percent to 2 million, while trade and services — the country’s largest employment sector — expanded by 2.5 percent year-on-year, employing over 9.17 million people.

Within this group, trade accounted for 3.49 million employees, transportation and storage for 1.28 million and accommodation and food services for 1.46 million.

In the accommodation and food services sector, employment rose by 4.7 percent year-on-year to 1.47 million, while in the real estate activities sector, it increased by 5.1 percent to around 132,000.

By contrast, employment in the industrial sector fell by 3.5 percent to 4.93 million, with manufacturing — the largest sub-sector — down 3.8 percent to 4.58 million. Mining and quarrying, as well as water supply and waste management, also saw declines.

On a monthly basis, total paid employment increased by 0.3 percent from June. The construction sector again led the gains with a 0.9 percent rise, while trade-services grew 0.3 percent and industry edged down 0.1 percent.