Young adults are leading the growing wave of emigration from Turkey as economic hardship worsens, youth unemployment reaches record highs and optimism about the future fades, Turkish Minute reported on Wednesday, citing data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
According to TurkStat, 424,345 people emigrated from Turkey in 2024, while 314,588 people immigrated. Among those leaving, the largest age group was 25 to 29, accounting for 14.4 percent of all emigrants, followed by those aged 20–24 (12.2 percent) and 30–34 (12.1 percent).
Commenting on the youth-driven emigration trend, migration expert Professor Murat Erdoğan told Deutsche Welle’s Turkish service that while people above a certain age lack the interest, enthusiasm or energy to leave the country, young people feel differently.
“They say, ‘Let me give this a try. If it works, great; if not, I’ll figure it out later.’ That’s a kind of luxury only young people can afford,” he added.
Surveys show that nearly 60 percent of young Turks aged 15 to 24 would choose to live abroad if given the chance, a stark reflection of the frustration and lack of confidence in the country’s economic and political future. Economic pressures top the list of concerns for young people.
Turkey has been grappling with deepening economic instability in recent years, driven by soaring inflation, a sharp rise in the cost of living and a weakening currency. In May, inflation stood at 35.4 percent, while the Turkish lira has lost more than 75 percent of its value against the US dollar since 2021.
The prolonged downturn has fueled public frustration and attracted growing criticism of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom rights groups accuse of economic mismanagement and of consolidating power through a system that stifles dissent and jails critics on politically motivated charges.
Fewer than four in 10 Turks aged 15–24 are part of the labor force, with the remaining 60 percent neither working nor seeking work. Even among those pursuing a higher education, opportunities are limited, with unemployment among recent university graduates surging to about 24.9 percent, pointing to a troubling mismatch between education and the job market.
The TurkStat data further showed that 314,588 people immigrated to Turkey last year, a 0.6 percent decrease from the previous year, with 103,732 of the arrivals being Turkish citizens moving back home. The majority of them were between the ages of 20–24 (14.7 percent), followed by 25–29 (12.1 percent) and 30–34 (10.3 percent).
The largest group of foreign nationals arriving were Azerbaijanis with 9.9 percent, followed by citizens of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the Russian Federation and Iran.
In contrast, among those emigrating from Turkey, Iraqis made up the largest group at 17.4 percent, followed by nationals of Afghanistan, Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan.
According to DW, migration experts cite increasingly restrictive residence permit policies, rising living costs and growing anti-immigrant sentiment as key reasons why foreign nationals are leaving Turkey.
