Data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) show that 52.7 percent of young people in Turkey describe themselves as happy with their lives, while those who expressed unhappiness stood at only 13.7 percent, Deutsche Welle Turkish service reported on Friday.
The data covered people between the ages 18 and 24 and represented an increase in happiness compared to 2022 figures, where those who expressed happiness was below 50 percent.
TurkStat also said 75.2 percent of young people were satisfied with their jobs and 47.8 percent with their income.
The data represent a stark contrast with recent news reports and research on young people, who are faced with unaffordability and a lack of prospects for the future.
In 2021 university students staged protests against high housing prices, and a BBC Turkish service report in 2022 showed that students are facing serious financial difficulties and cannot afford housing or basic necessities.
In parallel with these reports, Turkish media has reported an increase in suicides among university students.
A German NGO study released in mid-2023 found that the majority of Generation Z in Turkey, which includes people between the ages of 18 and 25, wants to live abroad.
In recent years TurkStat’s reliability as a data source has been increasingly brought into question, especially in the field of economy, where figures such as inflation have persistently been challenged by prominent economists and international organizations.
