Employment in Turkish textile and apparel industry, which has remained below 1 million since August 2024, continued to decline throughout 2025. According to Social Security Institution (SGK) data, employment in the industry fell from 959,395 in December 2024 to 860,359 in October 2025, meaning a total of 99,036 people became unemployed in textiles and apparel during the first 10 months of the year. This figure is expected to reach around 120,000 by year-end.
The textile sector entered 2025 with 384,711 employees, but this number declined to 349,731 by October. Employment losses in the textile sector alone reached 34,098 people.
The situation appears even more severe in the apparel sector. Employment, which stood at 574,684 at the beginning of the year, fell to 510,628 within 10 months, leaving 64,056 people unemployed.
In parallel with declining employment figures, the number of workplace closures also increased. During the same period, a total of 4,622 workplaces shut down, including 823 textile companies and 3,799 apparel companies. While the number of workplaces in the textile and apparel industry stood at 59,101 in December 2024, this figure declined to 54,479 by October 2025.
Over the past 12 months, capacity utilization rates fell by 1.8% in the manufacturing industry and by 3.6% in the textile industry. Capacity utilization in textiles was reported at 69% for December.
“Employment losses will reach 380,000 between 2022 and the end of 2025”
Speaking on the Business World Talks programme on DÜNYA Gazetesi TV, Toygar Narbay, President of the Türkiye Apparel Manufacturers Association (TGSD), said that Türkiye’s share in global apparel trade has been declining rapidly since 2023. Narbay noted that, based on the first six months of the year, this share had fallen below 3% for the first time in 35 years, to 2.96%.
Stating that every USD 1 billion in apparel exports corresponds to a gain or loss of 31,500 jobs, he said that calculations made at the beginning of 2025 had pointed to an expected employment loss of around 100,000. He noted that this figure had already been reached by October, before the end of the year, and added that monthly job losses of 10,000 were expected until year-end. Narbay stated that total employment losses would reach 380,000 when the period from 2022 to the end of 2025 is considered.
Industry-wide extension of employment support for SMEs expected
In a statement to Aksu Haber, Ahmet Öksüz, President of the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (İTHİB), pointed to two fundamental problems facing the industry: employment costs and exchange rates.
Referring to the employment support package designed specifically for SMEs, Öksüz said, “We have received the good news from the relevant ministries that this will be implemented across the entire industry. Putting this into practice is very important in terms of employment.” He also reiterated that the existing 3% foreign exchange conversion support should be increased for the textile sector, adding that they expect a higher level of foreign exchange support to come into effect in 2026.