Informal employment (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) in Turkey
Turkey: Informal employment (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) was 8,660 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Informal employment in Turkey, 2000–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
In 2025, informal employment in Turkey stood at 8,660.
That represents a change of down 4.2% on the previous year and down 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, informal employment in Turkey peaked at 11,218 in 2000 and was at its lowest, 8,424, in 2020.
Turkey ranks 16th of 81 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Informal employment (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) in Turkey, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 11,218 | — |
| 2002 | 11,213 | -0.0% |
| 2003 | 11,024 | -1.7% |
| 2004 | 10,016 | -9.1% |
| 2005 | 9,842 | -1.7% |
| 2006 | 9,751 | -0.9% |
| 2007 | 9,546 | -2.1% |
| 2008 | 9,353 | -2.0% |
| 2009 | 9,588 | +2.5% |
| 2010 | 10,031 | +4.6% |
| 2011 | 10,416 | +3.8% |
| 2012 | 9,968 | -4.3% |
| 2013 | 9,650 | -3.2% |
| 2014 | 9,413 | -2.5% |
| 2015 | 9,259 | -1.6% |
| 2016 | 9,397 | +1.5% |
| 2017 | 9,867 | +5.0% |
| 2018 | 9,987 | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 9,896 | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 8,424 | -14.9% |
| 2021 | 8,606 | +2.2% |
| 2022 | 8,641 | +0.4% |
| 2023 | 8,638 | -0.0% |
| 2024 | 9,039 | +4.6% |
| 2025 | 8,660 | -4.2% |
Turkey compared with similar countries
- Turkey's 8,660 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 2,402, 3.6× the median. (28 countries reporting)
- Turkey's 8,660 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 162.87, 53.2× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 10,172 | 9,353 | 11,218 | 9 |
| 2010s | 9,788 | 9,259 | 10,416 | 10 |
| 2020s | 8,668 | 8,424 | 9,039 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Turkey
More work & labour data for Turkey
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 31,966 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 54.63 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 38,497 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 8.78 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 1.51 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 95,928 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 41,171 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 49.84 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 0.6505 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 1.11 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is informal employment in Turkey?
- Informal employment in Turkey was 8,660 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest informal employment recorded in Turkey?
- The highest recorded value was 11,218 in 2000.
- What is the lowest informal employment recorded in Turkey?
- The lowest recorded value was 8,424 in 2020.
- How does Turkey rank for informal employment?
- Turkey ranks 16th out of 81 countries with data for 2025.
- Is informal employment rising or falling in Turkey?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Turkey data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Informal employment (previous ILO definition - ICLS13). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. This harmonized series for informal employment is derived using the same set of criteria across countries to improve comparability. The criteria used are based on employment status, institutional sector, destination of production, bookkeeping, registration, social security contribution, places of work and size. Data disaggregated by occupation are provided according to the latest version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). Data may have been regrouped from the national classifications, which may not be strictly compatible with ISCO. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.