Deniz Güngör
The economic crisis, deepened by the government, is driving the young population in the country into poverty and social exclusion. The data from Eurostat has served to confirm this.
According to the data, the proportion of those under the threat of poverty and social exclusion in Türkiye remained above the European average. Accordingly, in 2025, while the proportion of young people in the 15–29 age group under the threat of poverty and social exclusion was 24.2 per cent across Europe, this rate reached 28.2 per cent in Türkiye.
Based on this data, 1 in 4 young people in Europe, and 2 out of every 7 young people in Türkiye, are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Consequently, Türkiye became the 5th country with the highest threat of poverty and social exclusion among youth.
AT THE TOP IN POVERTY
In the data, poverty and social exclusion were also handled separately. Accordingly, while the rate of young people in the 15–29 age group at risk of poverty was 19.6 per cent across Europe, this rate was 21.9 per cent in Türkiye. With this rate, Türkiye followed Finland with 27.3 per cent, Bulgaria with 24.4 per cent, Romania with 23.4 per cent, Denmark with 23.3 per cent, Greece with 23 per cent, and Sweden with 22.4 per cent respectively.
The data simultaneously shared the rates of the general population at risk of poverty across the country. Accordingly, this rate was determined as 16.3 per cent across Europe. The data in Türkiye, however, became a reflection of the deepening economic crisis. According to the data, while 23.4 per cent of the population in the country was at risk of poverty in 2025, Türkiye ranked first across Europe. Türkiye was followed by Lithuania with 22.6 per cent, Latvia with 22 per cent, North Macedonia with 21.9 per cent, and Bulgaria with 21.2 per cent respectively.
THEY CANNOT GO OUT
Eurostat's data also sought an answer to the question "is the money in the pocket sufficient to meet basic human needs?". Accordingly, 10.4 per cent of the 15–29 age group in Türkiye is in severe material and social deprivation. This rate is approximately twice the European average.
According to the data, 1 in every 10 young people in Türkiye cannot go out once a week due to financial inadequacy, cannot consume protein every other day, cannot buy new clothes, and cannot meet an unexpected expense.
However, according to the data, the situation is not much different in the country's overall average either. While 12 per cent of citizens are in severe material and social deprivation, Türkiye became the 4th country whose public suffers the highest deprivation on the Eurostat list, following Romania with 16.8 per cent, Greece with 14.9 per cent, and Bulgaria with 15 per cent.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Kriz geleceği yuttu: Her 7 gençten 2’si yoksul!, published in BirGün newspaper on June 18, 2026.
