63% of Turkish youth want to live abroad: Survey

Some 63% of Turkish youth want to live abroad if given the opportunity, according to a survey conducted by the Turkey office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Duvar English

Some 63% of young people in Turkey expressed a desire to live in another country if given the opportunity, according to the “Turkish Youth Study” conducted by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Türkiye.

The top five preferred countries are as follows: Germany 14.5%, USA 13.8%, UK 9.8%, Canada 7.0%, and Norway 6.7%.

The primary motivation behind the desire to live in another country, cited by 47.8% of respondents, is the prospect of improved living conditions. The second most significant reason, identified by 20.7% of participants, is the belief that these countries offer more freedom.

The research was conducted with the face-to-face interviews-questionnaire technique with the participation of 2,140 people in city centers in 16 provinces between Dec. 5, 2022 - Jan. 20, 2023. The target group of the research is young people between the ages of 18 and 25.

Only 17.3% of respondents reported feeling happy. The majority, comprising 52.5%, described themselves as moderately happy, while 30.1% considered themselves unhappy. The most prominent aspiration for the future is to achieve a good life (46.7%).

Some 73.0% of respondents believe that Turkey is an economically underdeveloped or developing country while 80.6% expressed the view that Turkey’s current economic policies are unsuccessful.

Some 86.2% described the economic situation in Turkey as bad, while 88.7% perceive income distribution in the country as unequal and unbalanced. Some 84.6% believe that there is excessive unemployment in Turkey while 84.4% admitted to having limited their consumption.

The whole report can be accessed here.