Employment in Turkey’s accommodation and food sector peaked in May

The number of paid workers in Turkey’s accommodation and food services sector exceeded 1.3 million in May, reaching an all-time high, according to a report published on Monday.

At the same time, the number of employees in the industry, construction, trade and services sectors reached a record high of 15.67 million in May, according to data collected by Anadolu Agency (AA) from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

For comparison, in the same period last year the number was 15.03 million.

Turkey’s unemployment rate fell further to 8.4% in May, its lowest level in almost 12 years, according to official figures from last week.

TurkStat data shows that in May 2024 the number of employed people increased by 273,000 to 32.92 million compared to the previous month.

If we look at the detailed breakdown of paid employment, the number of workers employed in the accommodation and food services sector has been growing steadily since the beginning of the year.

Last year, the sector employed 1.09 million workers, before a slight decline in employment to 1.08 million in the first month of the year.

However, in the following months, employment in this sector began to rise, reaching 1.085 million in February, 1.13 million in March, 1.21 million in April and a record 1.3 million in May.

Ismet Demirkol, founder of Pariterium Consulting, in an interview with AA emphasized the importance of the accommodation and food services sector for the country’s economy.

Demirkol pointed out that employment growth in the sector is closely linked to the tourism sector and said: “A healthy tourism sector is key to the inflow of foreign currency into the country. Increased foreign currency earnings help reduce the current account deficit and ease pressure on exchange rates.”

He also expressed hope that employment growth in this sector would continue in the coming months.