The number of paid employees in Türkiye’s trade sector has recorded year-on-year growth for 80 consecutive months, surpassing 3.5 million in the first half of the year, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).
Employment in the sector rose to 3,57 million in June 2026, marking an annual increase of 3.2 percent.
The latest increase extended the sector’s uninterrupted year-on-year employment growth streak to 80 months. The last annual decline in the number of paid employees in the trade sector was recorded in October 2019.
A breakdown of the data showed that retail trade accounted for the largest share of employment in the sector.
The number of employees in the “retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles” category increased to 1.85 million in June 2026 from 1.79 million in the same month of 2025.
Employment in the retail trade segment rose 3.7 percent year-on-year.
The number of employees engaged in wholesale trade remained above 1.3 million.
In the “wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles” category, employment reached 1.33 million in June, while annual growth stood at 1.8 percent.
Employment in the “wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles” segment totaled 383,278 in the first half of the year.
The number of employees in that segment increased by 6.1 percent on an annual basis.
